They can trade in the best, most expensive players in the world. But to my mind, there is something else about the club, something special. It is an integral aspect of Toulouse life, an essential part of the community, the biggest thing in town. “It is impossible not to be impressed by the quality of their organisation, the size of their support base, their financial clout. They are at the very top end of the French game, not sometimes but always. Bath and Leicester had their periods of domination in this country, and I’d like to think we are on the brink of something similar here at Wasps, but no English side has a record that stacks up against Toulouse in terms of consistency.”Financially, they operate on a different level to us.

I don’t know the precise details of their wage bill, but I’m prepared to suggest it is massive by the standards of English rugby. On his own admission, he knows comparatively little about French rugby; he knows enough, however, to understand the scale of the challenge this weekend.”People close to the French game say Toulouse are the most professional club in the country by a distance, and I have no reason to doubt their word,” he said. Could Dallaglio put the occasion in context? “I’ve spent a sporting lifetime getting to this point,” he replied. “How much context would you like?”Toulouse were one of the clubs who interested him, albeit vaguely, when he was down in the dumps and mulling over his future following the 2001 Lions tour of Australia, from which he was invalided home with a severely messed-up knee and a wounded soul. The prospect of playing the Frenchmen for a prize of this grandeur, on an occasion of this magnitude, both fascinates and inspires him. What else is there?”Tomorrow at Twickenham, a home from home if ever there was one, Dallaglio will lead Wasps against Toulouse, the defending champions, in the final of the Heineken Cup – the premier competition in European club rugby and a title the Londoners never went close to winning in five previous attempts. The players, myself included, are excited about being a part of it And that is what it’s about, in the end.

What is more, we cannot compete financially with many of our rivals because there is no London weighting built into the salary cap – a serious problem, believe me.”Yet Wasps have come good in recent seasons; the people here are playing the best rugby of their lives, so we must be doing something right. And that something is a mixture of many ingredients, from the way we train and the rugby we play to the way we interact as a group. This is a London club, and it is incredibly difficult to create any sort of lasting togetherness in a place like London, a city of distractions where you become anonymous the moment you walk out the front door. The England captain could sign for anyone, anywhere, and name his price, yet chooses to stay put. How come?Loyalty is a big part of it – old-style, out-of-fashion loyalty.