England Can Win the Rugby World Cup

Lawrence Dallaglio has dismissed suggestions that England have no chance of winning this year's Rugby World Cup and warned their major rivals yesterday that Brian Ashton's eventual 30-man squad will be stronger than expected when it is finalised next month.

Dallaglio's active input may have been restricted by minor knee surgery last month but he has seen enough beneath the hot Algarve sun to be convinced that England will be a significantly tougher proposition than has been the case lately.

"Everyone is coming to the boil at the right time," insisted Dallaglio, who expects to ready to resume full contact training on Monday week. "Some might argue it's a bit late but I look around and, on paper, we've got an incredibly strong side and a very experienced one. There are a lot of World Cup winners as well as younger guys who are keen to impress.

"Whoever we pick I feel we are going to be very competitive. People aren't expecting England to do too well but the expectation within the squad is that we can. We have the ability to cause one or two surprises and if we get our squad selection and tactics right I think we can do well. If we get our best XV on the pitch we might see a different England."

The Wasps captain also revealed his left knee caused him such problems in the closing weeks of the season that he was barely able to feature in his club's European Cup final triumph in May. "I had a cartilage problem about six weeks before the end of the season and was playing in a considerable amount of pain. Now the England management have had a medical update they probably understand why I was coming off after 50 or 60 minutes."

Following an operation to sort out a small cartilage tear, though, Dallaglio's focus has switched to making the World Cup squad and completing a remarkable return to the international arena at the age of 35. All the indications are that he will make Ashton's final 30 but he remains far from complacent. "There are going to be some pretty unhappy players in a few weeks' time and I don't intend to be one of them," he said.

The World Cup squad, however, may well depart for France without the Leicester prop Julian White. The 34-year-old withdrew from last week's training exercise with the Marines citing personal reasons and Ashton is set to decide next week whether to reinstate the big Devonian.

England's players, meanwhile, have lent their support to the family of Madeleine McCann by training in T-shirts bearing a picture of the four-year-old who disappeared two months ago whilst on holiday in the Algarve.