Rugby: ‘Shoot’ grand slam losers - Dallaglio
Lawrence Dallaglio has claimed that the England team deserve to be lined up and shot unless they finally capture a Grand Slam next season.
After forcing his way back into Clive Woodward’s plans having missed most of the season following knee reconstruction surgery, Dallaglio was forced to watch France walk off with the coveted prize this season.
The Gallic celebrations were even more galling given that England lost three successive Grand Slam matches, and were also beaten by the French in Paris this term.
Dallaglio admits that unless England can prove they can win key matches, they will struggle to mount a convincing challenge for next year’s World Cup.
‘‘We start next year’s Six Nations with France at Twickenham and if we don’t win the Grand Slam then we probably deserve to be lined up against a wall and disposed of,’’ he told Sky Sports.
‘‘Maybe we need a gun to our head to win one. The Six Nations takes on an extra significance going into World Cup year.
‘‘We have the quality in the squad to do very well, as we proved when we had decent preparation on the South Africa tour two years ago.
‘‘We have won in Paris and Dublin, but we keep conspiring to lose the important games.
‘‘We will get there in the end but it would be very difficult to have the belief required if we can’t win the Grand Slam next year.’’
