Danny Cipriani was the golden boy once but, as he enters his 30th year next month, he is becoming more like the olden boy. Omitted from the latest England squad, the Wasps’ fly-half is no longer a man in a hurry, content to play a waiting game even as the future is in danger of becoming the past.
A player who has won only 14 caps and not started for England for eight years commands media attention as no other, his private life played out in public. It is ironic that in the most settled phase of his career when he has embraced the team ethic – joining Wasps after three seasons with Sale following a sojourn in Australia – Cipriani has become an optional extra for his country.
The England head coach, Eddie Jones, who named the Saracens’ fly-half Alex Lozowski in his wider squad with an eye on development, said Cipriani liked to be the name man but George Ford and Owen Farrell were ahead of him because they had shown they had the ability to run a Test match. “Danny has got to show he can be No1,” he said. “When he does, he will be in the squad.”
Jones also said he did not judge a player solely on ability but how they interacted with team-mates and coaches. “Some players can only be No1,” he went on, leaving the inference that he did not see Cipriani contentedly taking on a subordinate role.
“Eddie is a very seasoned rugby man who knows his stuff,” says Cipriani. “He is a big name in the game and England have won all their games under him. I respect his views and what he is saying. He really does try to get players to get better in his way. That’s what you’ve got to go out there and do.
“As for me needing to be No1, it’s a difficult one, isn’t it? I can’t sit here and disagree with what he’s saying. I pointed out to him that I was in the World Cup camp for a number of months and was clearly No3. I put my best foot forward and like to think I got some positive reviews out of that. But Eddie runs his team the way he does and you’ve got to respect that. I can see what he’s saying, especially if he doesn’t know me that well. I’ve just got to do whatever I can to be the fly-half he wants me to be or be that first-choice 10.
“He’s very good with his communication with all the players, not just me. I’ve just got to keep putting performances on the field and, if it takes a bit longer, it takes a bit longer. I am not going to ever give up. There will come a point when it is not going to happen, like when you are 34, but my best days are ahead of me for sure.”
Cipriani is finding it hard to live down his past which, as well as front-page headlines, contained confrontations with coaches, one of the reasons he put his international career on hold by moving to Melbourne. He has for the last four years regularly consulted Steve Black, Jonny Wilkinson’s mentor whose influence has made the outside-half more rounded and rational.
“I have really enjoyed working with Blackie,” says Cipriani. “I would advise young players to get someone on the outside like him. He has helped me evaluate things and not deal with them emotionally and I am really enjoying my rugby. I am in a different place now. I speak with Blackie a couple of times a week and after a chat with him you walk away feeling better about yourself without being able to pinpoint why. He’s been a father figure to me.
“There were times in my career when I felt the media did not help but I did not help myself in some ways. I’ve made mistakes, who hasn’t? Stuff gets blown out of proportion and you have to tread a slightly different line. It makes it hard for me to preach about certain things but when all that goes away it will be nice. I just want to help Wasps to get back to where they have been and should be. It’s about fitting in.”
