Regan no jurassic Mark as last of England dinousaurs won't quit

Mark Regan yesterday put a figurative size 12 boot into the thought that anyone would have the brass-necked effrontery to suggest he ought to be heading for the same place, on the assumption of being past it at 36.

'Listen 'ere,' he said in that broad Bristolian burr. 'Why get rid of all the dinosaurs, in inverted commas, when at the end of the day they get the job done?

'Because I have been around for so long, I've been described as an endangered species — which I take as a compliment. I'll keep battling away, through to the end of next season. I'm definitely not quitting.'

Now that Martin Corry has followed Lawrence Dallaglio, Mike Catt and Jason Robinson in bowing to old age, Regan stands with typical defiance among the remnants of a prehistoric pack. Unlike Dallaglio, Bristol's bulldog of a hooker has no intention of jumping before being pushed and, if he is about to be pensioned off, then clearly nobody from Twickenham has told him.

'Ronnie' Regan has never paid much attention to Father Time and has no intention of stepping aside for the uncapped David Paice or any other young gun, but that decision could be made for him by Brian Ashton when he names his 32 for the tournament at noon today.

England's head coach will think long and hard about whether to dump a player who delivered in spades for him at the World Cup and then led the strident case for the defence after the attacks on Ashton by Dallaglio and Catt.

If he survives the post-Paris cull, Regan will be the oldest front row forward to appear in the Five/Six Nations since Charlie Faulkner made his last stand for Wales a few days before his 38th birthday in 1979.

According to Brian Smith, the former Wallabies stand- off now running London Irish, Ashton has to drop the 'dinosaur' and put a whole lot of Paice into a rejuvenated front row.

'I've seen them come and I've seen them go,' Regan said during a break in training for Bristol's European Cup tie against Stade Francais in Paris on Friday.

'I'm not worried but if I'm not picked, I'll be the first to congratulate those who have been.

'I know I'm still good enough for one more Six Nations. I enjoy the new England regime too much to make myself unavailable.

'Besides I've already retired once, a few years back, because I felt England were not selecting on form.

'People ask me if I ever regret it but I always say it was the right call at the time. Martin Corry has been a massive servant but I am slightly surprised that he's standing down.

'We still need a hard core of experienced players like Simon Shaw and Phil Vickery. We bring a no-fear factor to the team and I would say it would be a mistake to get rid of people because of their age.'

The peerless Shaw, at 34 finally established as a major Test player after long years in Martin Johnson's shadow, will surely continue as a fixture in the second row.

Vickery's alliance with Ashton, forged in the searing heat of France last autumn, ought to result in his reappointment as captain, despite a powerful case for Matt Stevens to be the starting tighthead.

The paucity of alternatives at scrum half should ensure that Andy Gomarsall, another of the over-30 brigade, carries on where he left off.

The newcomers' list features 20-year-old Wasps fly half Danny Cipriani, Gloucester No 8 Luke Narraway, London Irish lock Nick Kennedy and his clubmate, Paice.

But the selection may have come a touch too soon for Tom Croft, Leicester's 22-year-old back row forward.

Mike Tindall will be reinstated but Andy Farrell's luckless run of injuries leaves him in danger of being frozen out at inside centre by Toby Flood and Olly Barkley, assuming Ashton decides that the latter's pending court case is not too much of a distraction.

Farrell is not the retiring type. 'At some stage in any career, there is always somebody who is going to take over,' he said.

'The injuries will nag me for the rest of my life but I definitely feel my best rugby union is ahead of me.

'I'm still learning, getting better and becoming a lot more confident.'