Lawrence Dallaglio has said he has no intention of retiring from international rugby.
Veteran number eight also stands by controversial comments
Lawrence Dallaglio has said that, with his 36th birthday looming next year, he has no intention of quitting international rugby just yet.
The veteran number eight, a lynchpin of England's 2003 World Cup-winning side, played a more limited role in the autumn as the holders put a poor run of form behind them to mount an unlikely run to the final.
Dallaglio also courted controversy in the immediate aftermath of England's defeat to South Africa by publishing an autobiography critical of head coach Brian Ashton.
But, as captain of reigning Heineken Cup champions Wasps, Dallaglio still believes he has the game and the profile to play a role at international level.
He told
BBC Radio Five Live: "I have already announced my retirement once from international rugby and ended up coming back.
"I enjoyed my World Cup experience. Reaching the final and just missing out was unfortunate but it was still a tremendous achievement.
"The only thing I have thought about since I came back is playing at Wasps.
"If you feel you are at a club that is top of the domestic game, current European champions and you're captain of that club, you've got every right to feel you should be involved in international rugby."
Damaging remarks
Both Dallaglio and team-mate Mike Catt came under fire for publishing books containing damaging remarks within days of England's Paris loss - although neither player was censured.
The Rugby Football Union subsequently said that rules regarding players releasing books would be reviewed, but Dallaglio said he stood by the comments made.
He continued: "I don't think I divulged anything that was particularly out of order. I think it's a fairly open and honest assessment.
"I have tried to be very honest and frank about my life in rugby. If I had not been honest about the 2007 World Cup, it wouldn't have been true to the rest of the book."
Regret
But he did admit regret over the decision to serialise his book in a newspaper, adding: "What sells books is very different to what sells newspapers. If I am guilty of anything, I probably should have - in hindsight - been a little more careful about the serialisation.
"Newspapers quite carefully cherry pick the juicy bits from any book and dress them with some great headlines and it caused me a few problems.
"I think the timing of my book was probably a bit awkward because the dust hadn't settled on the World Cup.
"I'm not going to start climbing backwards over what I've said. I apologise if I've offended anyone but that wasn't the intention.
"I'd like to think the whole matter has moved on now. The RFU issued a statement saying they weren't impressed with what I've done and they'll probably do something to ensure there is some sort of time limit on books written in the future."
