Dallaglio set for a steamer

Lawrence Dallaglio at the public training session at North Harbour Stadium. Picture / Brett Phibbs

Lawrence Dallaglio was rumbling like a Rotorua geyser when he left New Zealand last year as captain of the beaten England side.

He has returned, declaring his mind is not on any payback for those results or the disappointment of being invalided out of the Lions' 2001 tour to Australia.

Dallaglio is still steaming, but only about getting into action as No 8 and Lions vice-captain for the opening match of the tour against Bay of Plenty in Rotorua on Saturday.

He was a pained leader of a tired England squad last year, unhappy that lock Simon Shaw's ordering off at Eden Park had ruined his side's chances of squaring the series.

"The long-term [motivation] will be to make sure I'm on a ticket back to this country next summer so that I can have another chance to play against the All Blacks," he said at the time. "Because I think that for various reasons they haven't seen the best of a lot of our players and I would like to make sure that they do."

In the back of the Lions' minds will be the response they need to make after the stuttering 25-25 warm-up against Argentina last week.

All manner of excuses could be offered about that result. But this weekend is different. This is the start of a tour in which coach Sir Clive Woodward claims he has a squad which is better prepared than any other. There can be no excuses.

Not that Dallaglio is the sort of bloke who would head off into those areas. His leadership, steely concentration and skills have continued to be a powerful package for the Wasps club, even though he had removed himself from international rugby.

Dallaglio's intent was obvious yesterday as he spoke to the media after the Lions had finished an instructional training session aimed at the 5000-plus children and spectators at North Harbour Stadium.

The opening game was crucial, getting off to a winning start was paramount.

"In Lions tours you are judged by what happens in the test series, but each of the games is a building block towards that test series, and it is about momentum," Dallaglio said.

"That is what we as a group are all about ... and it starts on Saturday."

Because of his conversations with retired Wasps coach and former All Black hooker Warren Gatland, Dallaglio had a fair idea of what Bay of Plenty would throw at the Lions.

And in a recent conversation with former All Black coach John Mitchell, Dallaglio did not get the impression Mitchell thought, as conveyed in a Sunday newspaper, that the Lions would be a walkover.

"We are not under any illusions about what we might be facing, but equally we are very excited about this game and looking forward to getting into some action as well," he said.

Dallaglio suggested he was not someone who dwelt on the past, though he always learned from experiences. The 2001 Lions tour was one pass away from success, Dallaglio had soaked up the ordeals and moved on.

This Lions squad was also in much better shape than the England squad who travelled to New Zealand and Australia last year.

Halfback Dwayne Peel, who has been selected for Saturday, said it was all about starting afresh in the internal competition for test selection. "Everyone coming on tour, I think there are 45 guys, is desperate to play in the tests, and it will all be down to form.

"With the five or six games before the test," he said, "each one of those will be treated as an international really."