FURTHER REPORTS OF COCAINE USE ADD TO PRESSURE ON DALLAGLIO

Fresh doubt was cast on the future of the former England rugby captain
Lawrence Dallaglio yesterday following new allegations concerning drug-taking.

Dallaglio, 27, resigned his position last month after he was exposed by
undercover reporters from the News of the World bragging about using cocaine
as well as dealing.

The Mail on Sunday alleged yeserday that a chef and a waitress at a bar in
London had seen Dallaglio snorting cocaine in the premises on 8 May.

The alleged incident took place a week before Dallaglio led his team, Wasps,
to victory in the Tetley's Bitter Cup Final against Newcastle.

Richard Nicholls and his grifriend, Helen Griffiths, have both signed
affidavits, which have been given to the Rugby Football Union, stating that
they saw Dallagio snorting cocaine from a mirror through a rolled up UKP1O note.

In the statement, Mr Nicholls, the chef, claims the player repeatedly asked
if he could get any gear. The chef said he was then asked if he could get
him any E, which he took to mean ecstasy.

Mr Nicholls's statement to the RFU reads: "A little while after the bar had
closed I went to the kitchen to get a couple of beers and as I came out here
was a gathering of Wasps players in a group stood at the centre of the bar
and I went towards it.

"As I did so, Lawrence Dallaglio turned away from the group towards me. He
asked me, out and out to my face, if I could get any 'gear'.

"I looked down into the group and saw three or four lines of white powder on
a mirror."

Another part of Mr Nicholls's statement reads: "I saw Lawrence Dallaglio
snort a line himself with the UKP10 note still pressed into one nostril... I
was absolutely gobsmacked."

Following the first round of allegations last month, Dallaglio said he had
"experimented" with drugs in his youth, before he played top-class rugby.

Dallaglio, who has two children with his long-term girlfriend, Alice
Corbett, was also said to have kissed a young woman in the bar before
leaving with her.

In a statement by Miss Griffiths she recalls: "I saw him leave the bar
through the side door with a girl that he had been flirting with for most of
the evening."

The RFU yesterday refused to comment on the fresh allegations surrounding
Dallaglio. However, the Mail on Sunday reported that the affidavits were
given to an RFU panel set up to investigate the original allegations.

The RFU said: "Allegations relating to Dallaglio are being investigated by
an independent panel and until that investigation is complete we cannot
provide a further statement."

Dallaglio has previously admitted he had been "foolish and naive" and that
he had lied during his discussions with the undercover reporters from the
News of the World.

He told a press conference two weeks ago: "I bitterly regret that I ever
experimented with drugs and although it was a long time ago, I want today's
message to be that no-one should ever touch drugs."

The investigating panel comprises Sir John Kay, a High Court judge in the
Queen's Bench Division, and the RFU's Bob Rogers and Alan Stevens.

Mr Rogers is a lawyer and the chairman of the RFU game regulation committee,
Mr Stevens is a retired detective superintendent.