Lawrence Dallaglio has been appointed to an RFU task-force aiming to clean up the sport's image.
Ex-Wasps and England forward to help restore image of the game
Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio has been appointed to a 13-man Rugby Football Union (RFU) task-force aiming to clean up the sport's image.
Issues at Bath, which have seen the club lose five players - Matt Stevens, Justin Harrison, Michael Lipman, Alex Crockett and Andrew Higgins - to drug-related issues this year, and the Bloodgate scandal at Harlequins have damaged the reputation of the game.
The English RFU has therefore formed the 'Image of the Game Task Group' and has sought to fill it with senior figures in the game like Dallaglio.
The former Wasps forward is himself no stranger to controversy, having resigned the England captaincy in May 1999 amidst allegations of drug use.
Jurisdiction
RFU chief executive Francis Baron said: "The RFU has been very clear that we needed to act quickly at a game-wide level to ensure that recent events can never happen again.
"This is not a disciplinary panel set up to take action against clubs and players, the RFU disciplinary process will handle that should it be necessary. Nor will it be a talking shop.
"It will be focused on the issues at hand and actionable solutions. We will do whatever it takes to rebuild the reputation of the sport and that work starts now."
Dallaglio is joined on the new panel by players' union chairman and Bath prop David Barnes, club chairmen Cecil Duckworth and Andrew Coppell plus executives from Twickenham, including Rob Andrew and RFU disciplinary chief Judge Jeff Blackett.
The group will be chaired by RFU president John Owen and will meet for the first time on September 7 to conduct a "wide-ranging and thorough review of issues in the game", including an investigation into the scale of cheating within rugby.
