The fly-half took a leaf out of Barry John’s book to unleash a perfect kick to the corner for Jonny May to score and seal a third-Test victory over South Africa at Newlands
The venue for Danny Cipriani’s first Test start for a decade was fitting. Newlands was hosting what may turn out to be its final international and the England fly-half had a last opportunity to salvage his Test career. The conditions were ideal for England, a saturated pitch ensuring a slow game in which Chris Robshaw could act as a mop, but not for Cipriani, who could have been forgiven for trying too hard in an attempt to impress Eddie Jones. He did not touch the ball for the first eight minutes and only received it 14 times in the match, compared to his half-back partner Ben Youngs’s 91, but it was an evening about quality rather than quantity.
Barry John’s guiding principle was a fly-half should wait for the moment and not get impatient the longer it took to come. It arrived for Cipriani nine minutes from the end when England were five points ahead, an advantage that the evidence of the previous two weeks indicated needed to be improved. England had won a turnover when, not for the first time, South Africa failed to deal with one of Youngs’s box kicks.
Related: Jonny May stops England rot with decisive try in third South Africa Test
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