[8] In 1998 Dallaglio became club captain when Dean Ryan and Rob Andrew left for Newcastle in October 1995, taking four experienced players with them.

Dallaglio held the team together and 12 months later led Wasps to the first English league title of the professional era.

However, Dallaglio and his teammates saved their best performances for the Heineken Cup; he led the club to its second European championship win on 20 May 2007.

The final, played at Twickenham, set a world record for the highest attendance figure for a club rugby match (at around 82,000)[citation needed].

If you defend well at the highest level you win trophies.In the following season he joined London Wasps late because of the Rugby World Cup.

Dallaglio later claimed it was Wasps' greatest Premiership title, noting the damaging effect the Rugby World Cup had on their squad.

Dallaglio made a sly appearance, at blindside flanker, for London Wasps "A" Team in the Guinness A League on 8 September 2008.

He made his debut for England in November 1995 as a substitute against the Springboks and toured South Africa as a member of the 1997 British & Irish Lions squad.

The Lions passed him fit but the knee gave way in a mid-week match, cutting short his tour and forcing him to undergo reconstructive surgery.

Dallaglio said "The fans can expect this England team to give absolutely everything and play with an enormous amount of passion and pride.

"[11] England started poorly in the tournament, with an unconvincing 28–10 victory over the United States and a 36–0 loss to eventual champions South Africa.

Dallaglio started the first game at number eight, but was dropped for the South Africa match in favour of Nick Easter, who became first choice for the rest of the tournament.

Following the loss to South Africa, England began to improve steadily and, against most expectations, reached the final, where they lost a closely fought game.

[citation needed] Soon after the World Cup tournament, Dallaglio and Catt each published an autobiography that was serialised in a major newspaper.

[12][13] Many commentators questioned the wisdom of making public criticisms so soon after the tournament and Dallaglio later issued a clarification and partial apology.

At the end to his career, Wasps won the 2008 Premiership Final on 31 May 2008 in front of a capacity crowd of 81,600 at Twickenham, then a world rugby union record attendance for a club match.

[16] On 24 May 1999 Dallaglio resigned as England's rugby union captain following allegations in the News of the World that he had used and been a dealer in hard drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy.

"[19] England coach Clive Woodward, who was one of a panel of senior Rugby Football Union (RFU) officials who met Dallaglio to investigate the matter, said he was "bitterly disappointed" for the player and his family but was confident he would be "proved innocent".

[19] The RFU undertook their own investigation to assess the veracity of the claims and Leicester lock and British & Irish Lions skipper Martin Johnson was appointed to replace Dallaglio as England captain.

[citation needed] In summer 2008, he cycled 933 km across the Pyrenees as part of a team of 30 cyclists, raising £435,000 for Bliss, the special care baby charity.

Starting out in Biarritz and finishing in Banyuls, he was joined by former rugby union footballer Damian Hopley and ski expert Warren Smith.

They were joined by former footballers Lee Dixon and Graeme Le Saux, and a number of other celebrities and members of the public in a bid to cycle from Olympia in Greece, covering 521 km to the Olympic stadium in Stratford, London.

[citation needed] In 2016, Dallaglio was joined by 160 riders from San Sebastien to Andorra, Barcelona, Majorca and Ibiza, over 2,000 km.