Lawrence Dallaglio given time to clear £700K tax debt

Ex-England rugby star Lawrence Dallaglio is given time to clear £700,000 tax debt as World Cup-winning hero tries to raise money to avoid bankruptcy

• Lawrence Dallaglio, 50, is trying to raise money by selling a property, HMRC said 

A judge has given former England rugby union star Lawrence Dallaglio time to clear a tax debt of about £700,000.

Judge Sebastian Prentis considered Dallaglio’s case at an Insolvency and Companies Court hearing in London after HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) officials lodged a bankruptcy petition.

Dallaglio, 50, is trying to raise money by selling a property, an HMRC representative told the judge on Tuesday.

A judge will reconsider the case in about three months, the court was told.

Dallaglio, part of the England side that won the World Cup in 2003, was not at the hearing.

A judge has given former England rugby union star Lawrence Dallaglio (pictured in April) time to clear a tax debt of about £700,000

Dallaglio, 50, is trying to raise money by selling a property, an HMRC representative told the judge on Tuesday

He was listed by his full name – Lawrence Bruno Nero Dallaglio – on court papers and represented by a lawyer.

The former captain was part of the England team which triumphed against Australia in the 2003 Rugby World Cup final – which famously saw Jonny Wilkinson clinch victory with a drop goal in extra time. 

When he retired in 2008, Dallaglio told the Financial Times how he had made his ‘first million’, adding: ‘I think one has a responsibility to ensure that the taxman does not get everything.’

England rugby legend Lawrence Dallaglio (pictured) has insisted ‘it’s all okay’ after it emerged he is fighting a bankruptcy claim

Dallaglio, as England captain, raises the Calcutta Cup after winning the RBS Six Nations match between Scotland and England at Murrayfield on February 21, 2004 in Edinburgh

He added: ‘If you wanted to make money you wouldn’t play rugby. It has never been about money for me. In 2003 I had a benefit year, which raised more than £1million for charities.

‘Professional rugby players earn around £60,000 a year. If you win the World Cup you might get the same amount again.’

Dallaglio is widely known as one of the greatest players to ever feature in Rugby Union and for a time captained England.

During a long playing career which began in 1990, he amassed more than 300 league appearances for Wasps, with 88 caps during a storied Test career.

Dallaglio (pictured in 2003) is widely known as one of the greatest players to ever feature in Rugby Union and for a time captained England

He retired in 2008, finishing his final season in the game by winning the Premiership final with Wasps.

But his career has not been without controversy. In 1999, Dallaglio stepped down as England captain after allegations began to emerge that he had used hard drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, while celebrating the British Lions’ 2-1 series victory in South Africa in 1997. 

The rugby star denied the claims and said at the time: ‘The circumstances in which the supposed admissions were obtained amounted to an elaborate set-up.’ 

And in March 2020, a court was told Dallaglio made ‘payments of up to £10,000 at brothels’. 

It was claimed he spent money from his own bank cards during visits to a discreet Georgian townhouse in Holborn, central London, which also offered clients cocaine, an open court heard. 

Dallaglio (pictured commentating in 2019) is widely known as one of the greatest players to ever feature in Rugby Union

Dallaglio poses with the Cook Cup after the Rugby Union Test match between Australia and England held on June 21, 2003 at The Telstra Dome in Melbourne

Dallaglio’s alleged visits were revealed during the trial of a gang that was accused of providing prostitutes and the Class A drugs inside the establishment, The Sun reported. 

During the six-week trial at Wood Green Crown Court, north London, the father-of-three was not called to give evidence. The retired player was never arrested and it was not established what his expenditure covered. 

His name was initially discovered after detectives raided the Holborn brothel in July 2019 and went through the 180,000 bank card receipts they had found inside the property. The central London site has since been shut down.

Dallaglio, who now does regular punditry work with ITV, concluded his time in rugby with five league title medals, three Powergen cups, two Heineken cups and a World Cup winners’ medal.     

Last year Dallaglio credited rugby with saving him following the tragic death of his sister in 1989.

His sister Francesca was one of 130 people on board the Marchioness on the river Thames attending a party which ran into the small hours. The boat collided with another vessel and 51 .

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