Lawrence Dallaglio has no intention of letting go of his international career.
The 35-year-old played only a limited role in England’s recent World Cup campaign and there is a feeling the team may look for fresh blood next year.
But Wasps’ veteran forward Dallaglio, who sparked controversy with comments criticising coach Brian Aston in a book published straight after the tournament in France, is not stepping down.
He told BBC Radio Five Live: "I have already announced my retirement once from international rugby and ended up coming back.
"I enjoyed my World Cup experience. Reaching the final and just missing out was unfortunate but it was still a tremendous achievement.
"The only thing I have thought about since I came back is playing at Wasps.
"If you feel you are at a club that is top of the domestic game, current European champions and you’re captain of that club, you’ve got every right to feel you should be involved in international rugby."
Dallaglio came under fire after the controversial elements of his autobiography were serialised in a national newspaper within days of England’s World Cup final defeat.
The Rugby Football Union chose not to censure the player or team-mate Mike Catt, who wrote similarly damaging remarks, although rules regarding players releasing books are being reviewed.
Dallaglio stands by his comments and said: "I don’t think I divulged anything that was particularly out of order. I think it’s a fairly open and honest assessment.
"I have tried to be very honest and frank about my life in rugby. If I had not been honest about the 2007 World Cup, it wouldn’t have been true to the rest of the book."
But he added: "What sells books is very different to what sells newspapers. If I am guilty of anything, I probably should have – in hindsight – been a little more careful about the serialisation.
"Newspapers quite carefully cherry pick the juicy bits from any book and dress them with some great headlines and it caused me a few problems.
"I think the timing of my book was probably a bit awkward because the dust hadn’t settled on the World Cup.
"I’m not going to start climbing backwards over what I’ve said. I apologise if I’ve offended anyone but that wasn’t the intention.
"I’d like to think the whole matter has moved on now. The RFU issued a statement saying they weren’t impressed with what I’ve done and they’ll probably do something to ensure there is some sort of time limit on books written in the future."
