 Dawson was left out of the England set-up in November |
Matt Dawson has not given up on playing for England again despite being overlooked for the November Tests. Dawson was left out of England's elite squad by coach Andy Robinson after a clash over his media commitments.
Over a possible recall, he told BBC Sport: "That's up to England. But I'm not sitting here saying I'm going to play for England again.
"I'm concentrating on Wasps but, if England want me to play and it fits in with Wasps, it would be an honour."
Dawson has fallen behind Robinson's first-choice scrum-half Andy Gomarsall and Harry Ellis, the 22-year-old Leicester number nine, in the England pecking order over the last month.
Over the next two weekends, the 32-year-old Dawson comes face to face with Ellis, seen as England's future at scrum-half, in a Heineken Cup double header.
"I'm too old in the tooth to go out there and try and have a dig at him," said Dawson. "I remember playing Richard Hill at the end of his career who was so niggly, realising his time was done. I promised myself I wouldn't be like that.
"Anyway, Harry Ellis is such a great talent I'll have enough on my plate to waste my time on trying to wind him up. He's so full of beans, strong and aggressive around the fringes.
"But he has a lot to prove to get into the England number nine shirt."
Round one of the double header at the Causeway Stadium and leg two at Welford Road a week later are being billed as the clash of Europe's top titans.
Although Dawson admitted the two were among Europe's best, he said it was too premature to get carried away.
"All the teams are still finding their feet in domestic competition and Europe is still fresh, so to call us the best two is not right," said the World Cup winner.
"But we know what needs to be done as have both been the best team in Europe in our time."
The two sides have met already this season, drawing their Premiership tie 17-17 two weeks ago.
But Wasps welcome back three players from international duty, while the Tigers see a staggering seven return.
"They've got some key players back that will punish us and put on a lot of points if we're not careful," said Dawson. "But we've done our homework and there are some chinks in their armour."
He added that the key to winning in Europe is being victorious at home, which puts added pressure on Wasps on Sunday.
"This is the most influential two weeks of our season," he said. "It could springboard us for the rest of the season or even bring us crashing down.
"Either way, it'll be mightily close. No one can say any side has a particularly big advantage going into it."
MMIX
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But we've done our homework and there are some chinks in their armour 
