FIVE years ago he helped England's rugby team to World Cup glory, but Lawrence Dallaglio's latest challenge could herald a brand new beer.

Laurence Cawley

FIVE years ago he helped England's rugby team to World Cup glory, but Lawrence Dallaglio's latest challenge could herald a brand new beer.

The former England captain, who was the only England player to play every minute of the country's successful 2003 World Cup campaign, was in Bury St Edmunds yesterday learning the fine art of ale- making.

A passionate ale fan, Mr Dallaglio was given a tutored tasting session with John Bexon, head brewer at Greene King. The meeting could lead to Mr Dallaglio playing an active role in coming up with a brand new beer.

“It is not the first time I've been to Bury,” he said. “I've been here a couple of times before and the lovely thing about this place is the relationship between the town and brewing. It's great to see some old faces and to meet some new people. A lot of the ingredients are sourced locally and the traditions have always been here.

“It is great to understand how it is made. And If I had the opportunity to add one or two ingredients myself to create a slightly unique beer then that would be great.”

He told how beer played a crucial role in rugby. “I've enjoyed beer for many years and rugby has always been a good conduit for that. If you win then you have a couple of beers to celebrate and, if you lose, then you drown you sorrows over a couple of pints as part of the match post-mortem,” Mr Dallaglio said.