England World Cup winner left stunned after Roy Keane allowed Man Utd star to break rank

Lawrence Dallaglio admits he couldn't believe Rio Ferdinand came and congratulated him for winning the World Cup whilst Roy Keane was his captain. The England legend was a key figure as the nation claimed their only Rugby World Cup triumph back in 2003. Dallaglio is a lifelong Chelsea fan, as was head coach Clive Woodward, and the pair were invited to parade the trophy around Stamford Bridge one Sunday afternoon.

It was before the Blues, newly taken over by Roman Abramovich, were taking on Manchester United in west London. Ferdinand was the only visiting player to break out of the warm-up to congratulate Dallaglio on his exploits. At that point Keane was his skipper and known for running a tight ship with his laser focus ensuring players were kept in line. The England back row has now joked he was stunned the Irishman didn't step in.

He told the Overlap: “You two ( Gary Neville and Roy Keane) played in game a week after we had won the World Cup final in Sydney. We flew back, and Chelsea got in touch and said, ‘We’d like you to walk out and parade the trophy’. That’s a dream come true. I was still drunk and buzzing really!. “It was November 30, Chelsea vs Manchester United at Stamford Bridge – you were both in the team. Myself and Clive (Woodward) walked out in front of Sir Alex Ferguson and Claudio Ranieri, and the noise – Chelsea is never normally the most atmospheric, but this was just ten days after England had just won the World Cup.

“I walked round the pitch, and I thought, ‘I understand what it’s like now to be a football player and score a goal in that atmosphere’. The only player that broke off the Manchester United warm up was Rio Ferdinand – he came over to me and shook my hand, and said, ‘Well done mate’. I can’t believe you (Roy) let him do that! It was a fairly even game – Frank Lampard scored a penalty, and we won 1-0 and you [Roy] got yellow carded! It was an amazing experience.”.

Chelsea would go on to win the contest courtesy of Lampard's strike from 12 yards. It was Keane who gave away the penalty when he slid in to try and spot Joe Cole, before scything him down. England's Class of 2003 remain part of a unique group with the country not boasting a huge amount of World Cup wins across all the sports on offer. Dallaglio joked that the English only liked to win finals with added drama, citing their successes of the past as proof.

He said: "To meet the hosts [ Australia ] in their own country in a World Cup final – England have only won three World Cups. One in football in 1966, which went to extra time, one in rugby in 2003 which went to extra time, and then in Cricket in 2019 [won on a Super Over] – we obviously love a bit of drama. To get the job done is quite difficult.”. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.