Dallaglio Poised to Bring Down Curtain on England

Lawrence Dallaglio is not normally a man of few words. The Wasps captain had clambered off his sick bed, having lain there for four days with a virus, to lead his side to only their third Guinness Premiership victory of the season and in a television interview afterwards referred to an impending statement about his international future.

"I am keeping my powder dry for a bit longer," the 85-cap England No8 said. After emerging from the players' tunnel an hour after the end of the match he declined an opportunity to elaborate. "I have got nothing more to say," he added, waving an arm in dismissal before he stalked away to a sponsor's bar. Given his loquacity during and immediately after the World Cup, the national head coach, Brian Ashton, might be impressed by the reticence of a player who had described England as resembling a pub side early in the tournament.

But there will be no way back for Dallaglio, despite the protestations of the Wasps' director of rugby, Ian McGeechan, that the 35-year old is the form No8 in England. Ashton will name his squad for the Six Nations next week and, though he has said he will not hold Dallaglio's words against him, it is up to the player to depart the international stage on his own terms.

He is expected to make the announcement in his newspaper column and he possibly owes Ashton the relief of not having to explain the former captain's absence from the squad.

Back in the summer, when Ashton was mulling over his options for the World Cup, he pondered whether Dallaglio could last 80 minutes. The player made a bristling verbal response but on Saturday he gave the perfect reply, playing the entire game, which included 18 minutes of stoppage time, despite his illness.

On the surface it appeared Wasps had thrown away a bonus point. They took a 25-3 lead in 52 minutes, scoring three tries, before spending the final quarter locked in their own half.

Bath fielded a weakened side with a view to Friday's match against the league leaders, Gloucester, and were terrible in the opening period, missing regulation tackles and coughing up possession.

The England captain, Phil Vickery, went off after 23 minutes with a cut head, though he had already suffered the recurrence of a calf strain. Dallaglio held everything together and, as Ashton looks forward, he could surely do with a younger model carved from the same oak.

Dallaglio was one of eight Wasps who succumbed to a virus last week, forcing them to field the hooker Rob Webber at open-side, and, given Wasps' stricken state, Bath wasted an opportunity, going 10 points down after three minutes when Webber started and finished a move. A clever change of direction by Riki Flutey then created space for Paul Sackey to score the first of his two tries and go to second in the all-time list of Premiership scorers.

Bath threatened fleetingly and were reinforced in the first half by Olly Barkley and Steve Borthwick, the latter coming on just as his second-row partner, Danny Grewcock, was getting 10 minutes off for dangerous use of the boot.

Bath almost snatched an unlikely bonus point but Barkley's claim for a try was ruled out by the video referee. The abiding image at the end, though, was of Dallaglio prowling the field demanding every last effort from his players, fists clenched. An era is passing, silently for now.

Wasps Lewsey; Sackey, Waters, Flutey, Voyce (Van Gisbergen, 47); Cipriani (Waldouck, 80), Reddan (McMillan, 62); French, Ward (Buckland, 62), Vickery (Holford, 23), Shaw (Palmer, 54), Skivington, Leo (Birkett, 56), Webber, Dallaglio (capt).

Tries Sackey 2, Webber. Cons Cipriani 2. Pens Cipriani 2.

Bath Abendanon; Maddock, Cheeseman (Barkley, 9), Fuimaono-Sapolu, Stephenson; Berne (capt), Walshe (Baxter, 80); Barnes, Dixon (Hawkins, 65), Ward (Ion, h-t), Purdy (Borthwick, 40), Grewcock, Short (Goodman, 58), Scaysbrook (Fea'unati, 67), Faamatuainu.

Try Maddock. Con Barkley. Pen Barkley.

Sin-bin Grewcock, 40.

Referee R Debney (Leicestershire). Attendance 10,000.