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Lawrence Dallaglio
LAWRENCE DALLAGLIO (T89) played his final game of professiobal rugby on 31 May 2008. On 3 January 2008, he announced that he was retiring from international rugby with immediate effect and from domestic rugby at the end of the current season. In his final game, in front a crowd of over 81,000 at Twickenham, he captained Wasps to beat Leicester and win the Guinness Premiership final and seal a dream send-off for the retiring Lawrence Dallaglio at Twickenham. After the game, it was around 6.30pm when Lawrence Dallaglio left the Twickenham dressing room for the last time as a player. Out of eleven finals which he played for Wasps, he won ten. [posted 31 May 2008]
LAWRENCE DALLAGLIO MBE (T89) announced on 3 January 2008 his decision to stand down from international rugby with immediate effect and to retire from his club side London Wasps at the end of the season 2007-2008. He won 85 caps for England. He played as flanker or Number 8 for London Wasps and never played for any other club. He scored 16 tries for England, ranking 9th in the list of England try scorers. In 2007, he led London Wasps to its second European championship win - the final at Twickenham on 20 May 2007 set a world record for the highest attendance figure for a club rugby match, at around 82,000. In this, Wasps beat Leicester Tigers 25–9, although Leicester were favourites to win: “Everyone was telling us this was the best Leicester team ever, so that must make us the best Wasps team ever”
LAWRENCE DALLAGLIO (T89) autiobiography It's in The Blood [Headline Publising Group] was published late in 2007. In it, he describes his time at Ampleforth. In a chapter headed Little Lord Fauntleroy goes North, Lawrence Dallaglio recalls his parents applying for a place at Ampleforth, and coming there with his parents for an interview with the Headmaster, Fr Dominic. Fr Dominic asked him “Lawrence, do you know what's special about the name Lawrence?”. Lawrence Dallaglio replied “He’s the patron saint of the Benedictine order”, an answer which surprised his parents for its good knowledge [atleast almost correct - St Lawrence is the patron of Ampleforth rather than the whole Benedictine order]. Furthermore, Lawrence was born on 10 August 1972, the Feast of St Lawrence. In the book, Lawrence describes his arrival in St Thomas’s House in January 1986 and being greeted by Fr Richard ffield (A59, Housemaster 1981-2002). He describes life in St Thomas’s House. He writes that “a lot of boys were there because their parents, like mine, made unbelievable sacrifices”, and he writes much of his family and the generosity of his parents. He describes what he calls “his entrepreneurial culture”, and how he came up “with one scheme to purchase Zippo cigarette lighters, which were all the rage at the time. They were advertised in a magazine from Pennsylvania, and could get them for 4$ each” You could have them engraved . So he and others bought 750 engraved lighters and sold them for £15 each, making a “hefty profit” – “It left me with about £5,000 in cash”
Most of all in this section of the book, Lawrence Dallaglio describes the rugby at Ampleforth, and his debt to John Willcox, Frank Booth and Peter McAleenan. He writes: “No school in England could have prepared me better for my future career than Ampleforth. You could even argue that I would 'nt have had that career had it not been for the school and its rugby masters”. John Willcox [Games Master early 1960s until 1988, when he became Housemaster of St Cuthbert’s House] “became my rugby mentor”, and he recalls that he played 16 times for England and gained an Oxford blue in four consecutive years. "His record as coach to the Ampleforth team was outstanding.. We were by far the fittest school rugby team in England at that time”. He writes of Peter McAleenan and Frank Booth: “Bizarrely, it was my economics teacher, Mr McAleenan, and my geography teacher, Mr Booth, who suggested I have a go in the forwards. Frank Booth had been a good player himself and his son, Richard (J89), was an excellent scrum-half for Ampleforth who would go to play for England Schools. Frank wanted me to play No 8 and as soon as I made the switch, rugby became a lot more fun and my last two years at school turned into one long and fantastic rugby experience”. He writes of the Ampleforth rugby Sevens team in 1988.
“John Willcox was the key to everything that was achieved” and “for the period coinciding with my being there, and a year or two before and after, Ampleforh enjoyed glorious years”. The first team remained unbeaten for six or seven years. “It wasn't necessarily the individuals but the preparation that was amazing…
Apart from the thoroughness our preparation, what was great about rugby at Ampleforth was its inclusiveness...we were a little like the old amateur rugby clubs, we had teams that went down from the first to the seventh. As long as you could walk, there was a team for you”
We note other activities of Lawrence Dallaglio. On 19 January 2006 he visited the headquarters of London Ambulance Service to open the refurbished Incident Control room, used by the Service to manage its response to the 7 July 2005 bombings and the attempted attacks on 21 July 2005. On 24 January 2007, as Honorary President of Wooden Spoon Middlesex Region, he opened Spoon Island at Coteford Infant School - the playground facility for the physically handicapped children. [posted 28 January 2008]
LAWRENCE DALLAGLIO (T89) played his final game of professiobal rugby on 31 May 2008. On 3 January 2008, he announced that he was retiring from international rugby with immediate effect and from domestic rugby at the end of the current season. In his final game, in front a crowd of over 81,000 at Twickenham, he captained Wasps to beat Leicester and win the Guinness Premiership final and seal a dream send-off for the retiring Lawrence Dallaglio at Twickenham. After the game, it was around 6.30pm when Lawrence Dallaglio left the Twickenham dressing room for the last time as a player. Out of eleven finals which he played for Wasps, he won ten. [posted 31 May 2008]
LAWRENCE DALLAGLIO MBE (T89) announced on 3 January 2008 his decision to stand down from international rugby with immediate effect and to retire from his club side London Wasps at the end of the season 2007-2008. He won 85 caps for England. He played as flanker or Number 8 for London Wasps and never played for any other club. He scored 16 tries for England, ranking 9th in the list of England try scorers. In 2007, he led London Wasps to its second European championship win - the final at Twickenham on 20 May 2007 set a world record for the highest attendance figure for a club rugby match, at around 82,000. In this, Wasps beat Leicester Tigers 25–9, although Leicester were favourites to win: “Everyone was telling us this was the best Leicester team ever, so that must make us the best Wasps team ever”
LAWRENCE DALLAGLIO (T89) autiobiography It's in The Blood [Headline Publising Group] was published late in 2007. In it, he describes his time at Ampleforth. In a chapter headed Little Lord Fauntleroy goes North, Lawrence Dallaglio recalls his parents applying for a place at Ampleforth, and coming there with his parents for an interview with the Headmaster, Fr Dominic. Fr Dominic asked him “Lawrence, do you know what's special about the name Lawrence?”. Lawrence Dallaglio replied “He’s the patron saint of the Benedictine order”, an answer which surprised his parents for its good knowledge [atleast almost correct - St Lawrence is the patron of Ampleforth rather than the whole Benedictine order]. Furthermore, Lawrence was born on 10 August 1972, the Feast of St Lawrence. In the book, Lawrence describes his arrival in St Thomas’s House in January 1986 and being greeted by Fr Richard ffield (A59, Housemaster 1981-2002). He describes life in St Thomas’s House. He writes that “a lot of boys were there because their parents, like mine, made unbelievable sacrifices”, and he writes much of his family and the generosity of his parents. He describes what he calls “his entrepreneurial culture”, and how he came up “with one scheme to purchase Zippo cigarette lighters, which were all the rage at the time. They were advertised in a magazine from Pennsylvania, and could get them for 4$ each” You could have them engraved . So he and others bought 750 engraved lighters and sold them for £15 each, making a “hefty profit” – “It left me with about £5,000 in cash”
Most of all in this section of the book, Lawrence Dallaglio describes the rugby at Ampleforth, and his debt to John Willcox, Frank Booth and Peter McAleenan. He writes: “No school in England could have prepared me better for my future career than Ampleforth. You could even argue that I would 'nt have had that career had it not been for the school and its rugby masters”. John Willcox [Games Master early 1960s until 1988, when he became Housemaster of St Cuthbert’s House] “became my rugby mentor”, and he recalls that he played 16 times for England and gained an Oxford blue in four consecutive years. "His record as coach to the Ampleforth team was outstanding.. We were by far the fittest school rugby team in England at that time”. He writes of Peter McAleenan and Frank Booth: “Bizarrely, it was my economics teacher, Mr McAleenan, and my geography teacher, Mr Booth, who suggested I have a go in the forwards. Frank Booth had been a good player himself and his son, Richard (J89), was an excellent scrum-half for Ampleforth who would go to play for England Schools. Frank wanted me to play No 8 and as soon as I made the switch, rugby became a lot more fun and my last two years at school turned into one long and fantastic rugby experience”. He writes of the Ampleforth rugby Sevens team in 1988.
“John Willcox was the key to everything that was achieved” and “for the period coinciding with my being there, and a year or two before and after, Ampleforh enjoyed glorious years”. The first team remained unbeaten for six or seven years. “It wasn't necessarily the individuals but the preparation that was amazing…
Apart from the thoroughness our preparation, what was great about rugby at Ampleforth was its inclusiveness...we were a little like the old amateur rugby clubs, we had teams that went down from the first to the seventh. As long as you could walk, there was a team for you”
We note other activities of Lawrence Dallaglio. On 19 January 2006 he visited the headquarters of London Ambulance Service to open the refurbished Incident Control room, used by the Service to manage its response to the 7 July 2005 bombings and the attempted attacks on 21 July 2005. On 24 January 2007, as Honorary President of Wooden Spoon Middlesex Region, he opened Spoon Island at Coteford Infant School - the playground facility for the physically handicapped children. [posted 28 January 2008]
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