Despite signing a new contract at the club in the summer, England international Simon Shaw wants to leave London Wasps.

Revealing the news earlier today, a statement from the Premiership side read: "Upon his return (from the World Cup), he informed the club last week he would like to finish his career overseas."

"The club are very disappointed with this news and await an official approach for the player. Simon requested that the club did not announce this at the time for personal reasons, which the club was happy to comply with."

This is not the only blow for Wasps this week either. Head coach Shaun Edwards has decided to leave the club after 10 years, revealing his desire to pursue other opportunities in rugby.

Explaining his decision, Edwards said: "I will always have fond memories of my time with Wasps and feel ready and excited for some new challenges ahead of me."

This has now led to speculation regarding Edwards' involvement in the England set-up, with Martin Johnson and co's future yet to be deciding following a disappointing World Cup.

Despite losing Edwards, Wasps director Lawrence Dallaglio remained positive about the future, saying that it was the 'right time' for the 45-year-old to move on.

Dallaglio said: "Now is the right time for him to go on and continue to develop himself as a coach in another environment."

"We have no doubt that Shaun's reputation, greatly enhanced by his work with Wales at the recent World Cup, will present him with many opportunities at the top level of the sport."

As things stand in the Aviva Premiership, Wasps - who have denied any financial issues are behind the exits of Shaw and Edwards - sit fifth in the table after seven games. 

They are next in action at home to Northampton on Sunday, looking to put a disappointing week off the pitch behind them with a positive display in front of their home fans.

If you're looking for some betting action before Sunday, why not get yourself a rakeback deal and play some blackbelt poker.

After a dramatic weekend of rugby in New Zealand, we are now down to the final four teams. One of Wales, France, New Zealand and Australia will win the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

This of course means that England were knocked out and it happened against France on Saturday morning. Despite problems off the pitch, there were high hopes that Martin Johnson's men would progress to the semi-finals, but it was not to be.

In truth, England were very poor against the French and deserved nothing other than the defeat they received. 

England's exit doesn't mean our attention should drift from the Rugby World Cup though. There are still four matches to go (including the third / fourth place play-off) and as we reach the semi-final stage of the tournament, there is plenty to place your bets on.

We will look at more specific markets later in the week, but first, let's keep it simple. Who do rugby betting experts back to make the final?

Wales v France 

Wale shave been fantastic in this year's tournament. Their only defeat came harshly at the hands of South Africa and there is no doubt they deserve their place in the semi-finals.

As for France, they appear to have found form at the right time. They lost twice in the group stages, but turned on the style to defeat England at the weekend.

Looking at the betting odds, given their excellent form, Wales are slight favourites to progress to the final. You can back them at 5/6 with Bet365 while France are 11/10.

New Zealand v Australia

This is likely to be an extremely intense affair as these two rivals go head to head. Both will have aspirations of winning the whole tournament and neither will accept defeat at the semi-final stage.

As hosts, the All Blacks are favourites to come out on top in this one. They can be backed at odds of 1/3 with Boylesports, while the Wallabies are available at 9/4.