Lawrence Dallaglio has hinted he may consider playing for England again after undergoing ankle surgery that will rule him out for up to six months. Dallaglio retired from England duty last September and his Lions tour of New Zealand ended after 20 minutes with a broken ankle against Bay of Plenty.
"I would not rule anything out for next season," he said from his hospital bed.
"It is evident from the way I finished the season that I have every reason to carry on playing at the highest level."
Dallaglio cited family reasons and the need to "get off the treadmill" when he stepped down from Test duty after leading England on last summer's unsuccessful tour of New Zealand.
 |  I knew straight away that my tour was over |
Whilst not declaring outright he is available again for international selection, Dallaglio stressed: "It's a case of 'never say never'. "For anything to happen, I have to be back and playing well. But I don't anticipate coming back from this injury as being a major problem.
"I am under no illusions about the amount of hard work I am going to face to get fit but I will be very disappointed if I am not back playing by October - so will the surgeon."
Dallaglio has enjoyed a distinguished career with England and the Lions, who he helped to victory in the 1997 series in South Africa before returning home early with a knee injury from Australia four years ago.
While he intends to play on for his club Wasps, the fractured and dislocated ankle he suffered on Saturday would be an unfortunate and inappropriate way for his Test career to end.
"I knew my leg had been caught in the ground and it was not facing in the right direction," Dallaglio said of the incident.
"I was in a lot of pain and James (Robson, the Lions doctor) was able to put it back in on the pitch. He had never had to do that before and once the ankle was back in, the pain subsided.
"I have broken the fibia - the smaller of the two leg bones - and there is trauma to the ankle ligaments. I have had five screws and a metal plate inserted in the leg."
The 32-year-old insisted he was more concerned with the immediate consequences than worries over his career.
"I never thought that my career was in doubt," he added. "My only concern at the time was that my tour was over.
"I was lying there thinking: 'I have never been taken off on a stretcher before in my career'.
"I knew straight away that my tour was over. I knew that if it was an injury that I couldn't get up from then it was pretty serious.
"It's disappointing because I was feeling in good shape. I felt like I'd have been able to make a major impact."
MMIX
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