About Lawrence

Lawrence Bruno Nero Dallaglio OBE falls into a very small category of rugby players to reach superstar status. Between his debut for London Wasps in 1993 and his retirement from the sport in 2007, Lawrence achieved everything there is to achieve in professional rugby, captaining his country, winning the World Cup and leading his club to unprecedented success in domestic and European competition.

Born in Shepherd’s Bush on August 10th 1972, Lawrence was always more at home on the rugby field than in the classroom and represented his country at youth level from an early age. The tragic death of his sister Francesca, an extremely talented ballerina, in the Marchioness disaster in 1989 gave him the drive to achieve success in her honour, and to reward the unflinching support of his parents, Vincenzo and Eileen.

Despite approaches from other clubs, Lawrence pledged his allegiance to London Wasps during his teens and made his first senior appearance in 1993, before being appointed club captain two years later.

1995 was a memorable year for the famous number 8 as he collected the RFU Player of the Year award and earned his first cap for England, featuring as a substitute whilst on tour in South Africa.

The following year, Lawrence guided Wasps to their first professional English league title and was made captain of England in 1997, continuing to star for club and country and earning a reputation as one of the greatest players of his generation.

2003 saw Lawrence form part of the Premiership-winning Wasps side as well as winning the Grand Slam in the Six Nations for England, but his greatest moment came in the World Cup in November, playing every minute of the tournament as England defeated Australia in the final to lift the trophy.

In the same year, Lawrence celebrated his testimonial year after ten years’ fine service to London Wasps, and hosted a series of events which raised over £1 million for a number of causes, including Cancer Research UK. However, despite reaching veteran status after a long and distinguished career, Lawrence showed no signs of relenting and regained the captain’s armband for the national side following Martin Johnson’s retirement after the World Cup.

Lawrence himself retired from international rugby in 2004 and the decision seemed to benefit his club commitments as Wasps embarked on their most successful period in recent history, winning three consecutive Premiership titles and two Heineken Cups. This winning habit persuaded him to reverse his international retirement and he returned to the fold to go on tour with the British Lions for the third time, although an injury cut short his involvements in the New Zealand series.

In the form and shape of his life, Lawrence continued to impress for club and country and was an integral part of the England squad for the 2007 World Cup, winning a runners-up medal for his part in his country’s surge to the final, where they were defeated by South Africa.

Losing was something that Lawrence was not used to during his career and it was no surprise that he ended his playing career on an all-time high, guiding Wasps to victory in the Premiership final at Twickenham in front of a world record crowd for a domestic match of rugby.

Lawrence retired from rugby in 2008 to pursue a number of other ventures, whilst also spending more time with his devoted family – wife Alice, son Enzo and daughters Josie and Ella.

Having already been awarded with an MBE earlier in his career, Lawrence was appointed an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2008, and also collected an Honorary Doctorate from Buckinghamshire New University later that year for services to sport.

Charity work has also been a significant part of Lawrence’s life and he played a large role in the Help for Heroes rugby match in September 2008, captaining his side to victory against an international XV and raising £1.4 million in the process for Help for Heroes.

Lawrence had always been keen to establish his own charity foundation and this desire was made even more poignant by the death of his mother Eileen, who lost her courageous battle with cancer in December 2008. As well as dedicating a huge amount of his time to the Dallaglio Foundation to help raise funds for a number of fine causes, Lawrence is also the Honorary President of Wooden Spoon, a charity which works with disadvantaged children, and takes part in a number of one-off fundraising events for a variety of causes.

Honours:

Domestic:

Premiership: Champions 1996/97, 2002/03, 2003/04, 2004/05, 2007/08
European Cup: Winners 2003/04, 2006/07
Powergen Cup: Winners 1998/99, 1999/2000
Challenge Cup: Winners 2002/03
Middlesex Sevens: Winners 1993/94

Total appearances: 314

International:

Six Nations: Winners 1996, 2000, 2001, 2003
World Cup: Winners 2003

Total caps: 85

British Lions:

Selected for tours in 1997 (South Africa), 2001 (Australia) and 2005 (New Zealand)