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VERSAILLES - Lawrence Dallaglio says it's no surprise to him that England now face a winner-takes-all clash with Tonga to keep their hopes of a World Cup quarter-final alive.
Whichever side wins Friday's match in Paris will face Australia in the last eight in Marseille on October 6.
It's a far cry from 2003 when veteran No 8 Dallaglio was the only player to appear in every minute of all seven matches in England's World Cup-winning campaign in Australia.
After a disappointing display in a lacklustre 28-10 opening Pool A win against the United States in Lens, Dallaglio was left out of the next two matches - the 36-0 thrashing by South Africa, England's record World Cup defeat, and last weekend's 44-22 win over Samoa.
But he is now on the bench for Friday's match at the Parc des Princes.
England have won just 18 out of their 43 Tests since defeating Australia in the 2003 World Cup final.
Dallaglio, who in 2004 retired from national service only to return two years later after appearing for the British and Irish Lions in New Zealand in 2005 where a broken leg in a midweek match ended his tour, said there was no point in looking back to how things were.
"We're not four years ago. What's happened since the last World Cup, it's not a huge surprise we're in this position," ex-England captain Dallaglio told reporters at the squad's hotel here Thursday.
"Teams like Tonga (who beat Samoa 19-15 before losing narrowly 25-30 to South Africa last weekend) will always play above their potential, especially when they are playing against the more recognised rugby nations, because they raise their game.
"If teams like ourselves, Ireland, Wales and Scotland are below par, which we have been in the games up to now, they are going to be closely-fought matches. We recognise that and we are expecting a big performance from the whole team."
Dallaglio, 35, who has seen younger rival Nick Easter take over at No 8 admitted it had been particularly tough to miss the Springbok match.
"I'll be honest, I didn't expect to come here and not play in that game but I'm not looking to apportion the blame anywhere other than myself. It was painful to watch a team getting beaten 36-zip.
"This is the first opportunity I've had to do something about it in the sense of being involved in the team. That's exactly what I intend to do," added Dallaglio, who has appeared in 81 Tests for England.
"But there are no guarantees. Obviously, the priority is not about me, the priority is to win the game."
Someone else looking to make an impact off the bench is Phil Vickery, England's World Cup captain, who was banned for two games for tripping US centre Paul Emerick.
"It looked ugly, especially on the slow-mo (replay)," prop forward Vickery conceded Thursday. "But as I said at the time, and during the hearing, lots of things I might be but one is not a dirty player.
"I don't condone any foul play in rugby and if I was made an example of then so be it. I hope it sends the right signals out to the whole game that dirty play is not acceptable."
Things have not so far panned out as either Vickery or Wasps team-mate Dallaglio would have hoped.
But Dallaglio, a stalwart of the London club, insisted he had no regrets about returning to Test rugby:
"Not at all. You can't script things. I've tried to do that for much of my career but it doesn't always work. Whoever wrote the script this time round didn't consult me first."
- AFP
