James Haskell: I'm not the new Lawrence Dallaglio

Gary Fitzgerald, sundaymirror.co.uk 25/05/2008

RUGBY 006 DAY TO GO TO PREMIERSHIP FINAL JAMES HASKELL EXCLUSIVE

James Haskell has warned Wasps fans not to bank on him being the NEW Lawrence Dallaglio.

And the young man who is expected to take over as the club's "Rock" next season, claims Saturday's Premiership Final with Leicester Tigers will be another "bruising and battering car accident".

Haskell will always be indebted to rugby legend Dallaglio for all his advice over the years.

It has helped him rise up the ladder to be a regular fixture for Wasps this season and become a crucial member of the England side.

The strapping 23-year-old 6ft 4in flanker from Windsor is also tipped to captain his country one day, and his aggressive playing style is certainly in the same mould as action-man Dallaglio.

But as Dallaglio prepares to take his final bow as a player in Saturday's mouth-watering Guinness Premiership Final with arch-rivals Leicester Tigers, Haskell insisted: "I'm not the new Lawrence.

"Nobody can be that. I am my own man and do things the way I do them.

"I don't want to be like him or copy him. But what I would like to do is have a similar successful career in terms of the medals and trophies - plus all those England and Lions caps!

"I'd love to play for as long as he has at the top, and still look pretty good at the end of it. He has won everything there is to win in the game. Lawrence has experienced everything there is and he has been the guy I have turned to to ask about absolutely anything.

"He's always been there, willing to offer good advice. I've learned so much from watching him from a distance on and off the field."

Haskell added: "To be a successful rugby player you need to be two people - and that's what Lawrence is. He also has a very tough side.

"On the field he is a fiery character who expects certain standards. If you're not delivering them he gets very disappointed.

"Off it, he also expects standards and if you're late for meetings he gets disappointed. But that's him.

"He doesn't accept second-best - that's how it should be.

"Lawrence acts like a director at the club, so I expect we'll be seeing a lot more of him in the future!"

Wasps go into the final without star men wing Tom Voyce (dislocated shoulder) and England fly-half Danny Cipriani (ankle), but Haskell is more than ready for what will be a bruising battle.

He said: "Wasps-Leicester games are always massively physical and aggressive occasions.

"I remember walking off the field at Welford Road after we had beaten them for the first time in 34, feeling like I had been in a car accident.

"I've never felt more battered and bruised in my life. I put in 23 tackles and was smashed up by the end of it.

"I want to beat them badly. It would be a disaster if we failed to win a trophy at the end of the season."

However, Leicester fly-half Andy Goode is plotting to sting Wasps.

He insists: "It was threatening to be a terrible season for us. Now it could be an amazing one.

"It'll come down to who handles the pressure best - and we always back ourselves to cope with the big occasions."

www.coral.co.uk

*James Haskell was speaking courtesy of Coral, who are the official bookmakers of the Guinness Premiership. For a full range of rugby bets please visit www.coral.co.uk