Although the dream debut didn't materialise for Danny Cipriani in the Sale clash with Exeter on Saturday, I can't help but be excited by his return. Over the years I have been a staunch defender of Cipriani in various arguments about the direction of the English rugby and hope we have not seen the last of him in the white jersey. I get bored of the Danny bashing and thought I'd layout my position from the off.
Charge 1: He likes the celebrity lifestyle too much
I thought I'd get the most mind-numbingly boring aspect of this piece out of the way first under threat of this blog becoming the rugby equivalent of Perez Hilton. After rifling through the missus' Heat magazines, Danny has apparently had some involvement with high profile women such as Kelly Brook and a cheeky girl (I'm not sure which one). Saints full-back Ben Foden apparently also has a high profile missus in The Saturdays, and Gabby Logan is so called as she married Scottish winger Kenny, who dated TV and radio presenter Kirsty Young before marrying Gabby. Both are successful, so this accusation seems to be a little weak in its pretence. However, the wider trappings of celebrity life, you know, like going out until the wee hours, having a few too many and getting up to general mischief is so out of character for ALL professional rugby players that it cannot be defended in any way so this blog will not attempt to.
Charge 2: He is too arrogant
This is usually the accusation thrown at British athletes who don't make a secret of wanting to win. We all know the line, 'I don't like Andy Murray because he is so arrogant on the court' or words to that effect. The best athletes in the world live right on the border of arrogance and self-confidence. Nadal, Bolt, Messi, these are all names that if you watch them performing or being interviewed, you can see definite common ground in their manner. Yes, not every sports person gets it right every time, but when they do, they tend to be the moments when the sporting public takes a sharp intake of breath. Cipriani has given us many of those.
Charge 3: He has a bad attitude
Firslty, no one really knows how he behaves in the training ground except his team-mates and coaches. However, he has had some fairly unjust accusations chucked at him based on what people have only really seen on the pitch. Aside from the odd naff try celebration and some excitable post-match interviews, this still seems to be fairly baseless. One of the most memorable visuals of Danny Cipriani's career was him barking orders at his forwards before his full debut against Ireland in 2008. A lot of the old guard took exception to this, but I applaud it. He was just twenty at the time, speaking 'directly' shall we say to some high cap internationals. As a dumb forward myself, this sounds like a dream proposition to me.
'Do your job, smash the scrums, the rucks, make yards when you get the ball and support the backs. Apart from that, just give the ball to me and I'll get us where we need to be, deal?'
Sweet absolution!
Would you have said to Julian White 'Would you mind toning it down a little?' or to Lawrence Dallaglio 'Please could you stop giving away so many penalties?'. No. They simply would not have been the same players. Same with Cipriani.
I hope Sale can give him the platform that the Rebels never could, as the thought of him hitting the form he did in the late nougthies, in an England shirt, with players like Ashton, Foden, Goode and Tuilagi around him is a mouthwatering prospect. Lets hope it's sooner rather than later.
Got to disagree with the Danny Cipriani defence on all 3 points!
ReplyDeletePoint 1 – He likes the celebrity lifestyle too much!
Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing better than a few beers after a match which can sometimes if not all the time, descend into complete chaos! However, heading out at 2am to give someone some tickets at a night club before your international debut is stupidity on an epic level! The real start of his downfall!
I’m also not going to argue with dating a string of supermodels either. I’m sure it was very tough for Danny to be arm in arm with Kelly Brook! However, when you have a staunch traditionalist in Johnson at the helm of England, you must tone it down! There is no way he will give you a chance when you’re out to all hours living a footballer’s lifestyle.
Point 2 and 3
I’ll combine my disagreement on these points!
It might not be the fact that he has a bad attitude or that his is arrogant, it’s the pure fact that he is just not good enough to wear the red rose of England! There is no denying that he has a good skill set,(quicker than Sackey over 69 metres for example, although I don’t feel this has ever been good enough to warrant international selection. Persistant injuries to Jonny Wilkinson throughout 2008 was the only reason to include Danny Cipriani. There were no other options. Charlie Hodgson was in international exile due to his woeful tackling although he is still the best passer of the ball in England, and Toby Flood hadn’t come to the forefront. Cipriani was also helped by media hype which propelled him into the starting XV!
His one good game for England was against Ireland and soon after he was dropped to the Saxons. Smacked out by Josh Lewsey later on in 2008 for his poor tackling in a training session was swiftly followed by a horrific injury against Bath! Margot Wells said he’d be back ‘fitter and stronger’ I’m not sure if she had a time limit on this as I’m yet to see the results. He spent an ill fated time in Australia, once again only getting a shot at 10 after an injury to Hilgendorf, and missed a healthy amount of game time for stealing a bottle of vodka with Richard Kingi! His only real memorable moment for the rebels was his ‘Dougie’ after he scrored a try!
In my opinion he returns to England no better than when he left which means he has no shot at the white shirt of England. We need to harness the talent which has emerged over the past few seasons. As a biased Sarries supporter I like Owen Farrell, but as an attacking fly half he is dreadful. If Sarries play a more expansive game with the arrival of Ashton then could we see a different side to Mr. Farrel’s game…..who knows? As a defensive force he is immense, mirroring a young Jonny Wilkinson with his hard hitting on the gain line. The one player to watch out for in my opinion is George Ford. He played magnificently well when Flood was injured last season at Leicester and caused selection headaches when he returned. He ousted Flood for the Premiership semis which saw him guide Leicester to a good victory over Saracens!
He has also bulked up 3kg and according to the Rugby Paper, has a new set of ‘guns’ which could rival the author of this blog! His creativity at 10 with Farrell outside would be the obvious choice for 2015. Outside of them is a huge array of talent. Tuilagi, Joseph, Ashton, Foden, Goode, Miller, May, Trinder…just to name a few!
Cipriani needs to focus on his work at Sale. Once again he has started the season as second choice number 10 behind Nick Macleod, a place he is familiar with. This once again underlines the fact he is not good enough to lead an English backline.
The one hot prospect this season however, could be the collaboration of Cipriani and Andy Powell. These two combined on a night out could provide endless amounts of enjoyment for the public. Cipriani’s booze stealing antics combined with Powell’s joyriding exploits will certainly light up the north of England!