In the end the news about the England captaincy also emerged via a leak, albeit not quite on the scale of the Hutton report. Lawrence Dallaglio's partner, Alice, wore a tell-tale smile as she arrived to drop off one of their children at the school gates and by lunchtime her playground pride had spread on the grapevine.
The English RFU confirmed the news at 3.15 p.m. via fax, but Dallaglio did not mind the lack of fanfare one bit. Screaming tabloid headlines lost him the England captaincy in the first place and he is no longer a man - lucrative TV adverts aside - who yearns for front-page exposure.
In that sense Clive Woodward has made the soundest of choices as he seeks a worthy captain to succeed Martin Johnson. Of all the possibles - and England have an embarrassment of decent candidates - there is no one who wanted the job more.
Dallaglio will fix you with a stern glare and say he has put the News of the World saga firmly behind him. True enough, but he is also a proud man and proud men dislike even the faintest stain on their reputations.
Now, though, he is back in control of his destiny. Woodward says he is appointing for one match only, but the simple act of handing the first armband to Dallaglio represents a considerable olive branch.
Back in 1999, in the midst of defending his captain against a stream of lurid allegations, an exasperated Woodward publicly described his captain as "a complete prat" and the pair's previously close relationship never quite recovered. It says much for England's coach that he has now granted his former head boy absolution and asked the leonine Dallaglio to become leader of the pack once again.
There is certainly no questioning Dallaglio's appetite. His passion was evident in the tears during the anthems in the World Cup semi-final, as well as in the past 14 months when his place has been threatened.
Either side of Christmas last year he spent three consecutive matches on the bench while Lewis Moody was picked ahead of him in England's back row and hated every second. "If you're happy on the bench there's something wrong with you," he growled, promising to bounce back immediately.
Should he end up leading England in all five of their Six Nations games this season, he knows only five wins will prevent people comparing Johnson's brand of generalship unfairly with his own.
There is a certain symmetry, too, about his taking charge for the Italy game in Rome, the land of his father, Vincenzo. When Dallaglio leads his side out at Stadio Flaminio on February 15th it will be the sweetest of days for both himself and his family.
Guardian Service
ENGLAND TRAINING SQUAD (for Six Nations)
Backs: S Abbott (Wasps), I Balshaw (Bath), O Barkley (Bath), K Bracken (Saracens), M Catt (Bath), B Cohen (Northampton), M Dawson (Northampton), A Gomarsall (Gloucester), P Grayson (Northampton), W Greenwood (Harlequins), C Hodgson (Sale), A King (Wasps), J Lewsey (Wasps), J Noon (Newcastle), H Paul (Gloucester), J Robinson (Sale), J Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester), O Smith (Leicester), M Tindall (Bath), J Wilkinson (Newcastle, vice captain).
Forwards: N Back (Leicester), S Borthwick (Bath), M Corry (Leicester), L Dallaglio (Wasps, captain), D Grewcock (Bath), R Hill (Saracens), C Jones (Sale), B Kay (Leicester), J Leonard (Harlequins), L Moody (Leicester), T Palmer (Leeds), M Regan (Leeds), G Rowntree (Leicester), A Sanderson (Sale), S Shaw (Wasps), M Stevens (Bath), S Thompson (Northampton), A Titterrell (Sale), P Vickery (Gloucester, vice captain), D West (Leicester), J White (Leicester), T Woodman (Gloucester), J Worsley (Wasps).
