After being recognised by his fellow pros, the fly-half has a last chance to convince Eddie Jones he should go to World CupDanny Cipriani may not have been recognised by England this season but he has by his peers. The Gloucester fly-half was one of the five nominees for the Rugby Players’ Association player of the year in a list that was made up entirely of backs and topped the poll 11 years after he won the young player of the year award.The shortlist did not include a player from Saracens, Saturday’s European Champions Cup finalists for the third season in four who are on course for a seventh Premiership final this decade. Owen Farrell is the only one of...
He delivered that lovely grubber kick against South Africa and has been key to Gloucester’s unbeaten start but somehow the fly-half still does not float Eddie Jones’ boatIncreasingly Danny Cipriani looks fated to be a quiz answer for years to come. Name the most gifted English sportsman of his generation who never played in a major tournament? Not since English football regularly chose to ignore Matt Le Tissier in the 1990s has there been a more baffling selectorial omission.Le Tissier won only eight caps while the more prosaic Carlton Palmer won 18. Cipriani has started only five Tests in the past decade and has never featured at a World Cup. Talent writes its own cheques (even in these contactless days)...
Dylan Hartley makes an impact, Brad Shields suffers injury blow and George Smith’s red card proves costly for BristolGeorge Smith’s red card against Saracens has split opinion. Bristol’s Pat Lamis among those to think a yellow card would have sufficed and many observers have suggested it was on the harsh side. What counted against Smith, however, is that it was the kind of tackle that has been identified by the Rugby Football Union in its research as the most likely to cause head injuries, leading to the “armpit tackle” trial in the Championship Cup. There can also be no denying it was the decisive moment in the match – the scores were level at 18-18 until that point. Billy Vunipola...
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 NewlandsThe 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...
England need the difference the soon-to-be Gloucester fly-half can provide, with the national side’s attack needing a rebootGloucester is less a king’s home for Danny Cipriani and more a pretender’s bolthole. The fly-half is being released by Wasps at the end of the season but instead of making an expected lucrative move to France, he is taking a pay-cut to put himself in contention for next year’s World Cup after his international career was revived last week.Eddie Jones had ignored Cipriani for more than two years, with the England coach not seeing him as a starter ahead of George Ford and Owen Farrell and not wanting to risk souring the mood in the squad by harbouring a perceived recalcitrant tackle...