DALLAGLIO FACES AXE OVER DRUG ALLEGATIONS

The Rugby Football Union is expected to summon Lawrence Dallaglio, the
England captain, to Twickenham today to decide on his immediate future after
newspaper claims that he had admitted being a drugs dealer in the past and
taking cocaine and ecstasy during a British Lions tour.

Senior RFU officials, who admitted that they were "staggered and stunned" by
the allegations, said it was almost inevitable that Dallaglio, 26, would be
stripped of the captaincy before England fly to Australia on Wednesday for a
month for training.

The RFU will also have to decide whether Dallaglio, who has been hailed as a
role model for the sport, will accompany the squad in its preparation for
the Rugby World Cup tournament in the autumn.

Dallaglio was told of the allegations in the News of the World yesterday by
his agent, Ashley Woolfe, while on a weekend trip to the country with his
family. He returned to London immediately to meet Mr Woolfe and Clive
Woodward, the England rugby coach. There was no immediate comment from the
England captain or Mr Woodward. The RFU said that arrangements were being
made for its senior officials to meet at Twickenham today and Dallaglio was
expected to attend.

It said in a statement: "The allegations are being discussed as a matter of
urgency and the RFU will be speaking to Lawrence Dallaglio as soon as
possible before making any further comment."

Dallaglio, one of the few genuinely world class players in the England side,
was quoted extensively in the five-page newspaper article. He was said to
have admitted breaking the law when he was 18 or 19, saying: "I used to be a
drug dealer. I made big, big money from dealing in drugs."

Dallaglio was also quoted as saying that he had taken cocaine and ecstasy
with two other members of the British Lions squad after their Test victory
over South Africa in 1997. He was alleged to have talked knowledgeably about
how long traces of them remained in the bloodstream.

Scotland Yard said last night that, because no dates or locations of alleged
criminal offences in Britain had been disclosed in the article, it would not
be launching an investigation into the claims.