Analysis: How Danny Cipriani found career-best form at Wasps
Wasps have uncovered a magic combination this year with flyhalf Danny Cipriani and Springbok fullback Willie Le Roux.
The two playmakers compliment each other and both flourish in the Wasps system. One would expect replacing Charles Piutau and Kurtley Beale would disrupt the attacking rhythm but the Wasps attack is firing on all cylinders a month into Cipriani’s return from injury.
The Wasps structure has helped him reach arguably his career-best form – and is a guide on how to maximise his talent.
Offence is defence
The Wasps attack is based on two principles – width and possession – and they adhere to both extremely well.
Holding the ball is paramount with Wasps, very rarely do they kick away possession. They back themselves to work into good field position from anywhere outside their own 22.
Cipriani conducts proceedings from first receiver, receiving a high volume of touches as he maps phases back and forth across the park, deciding when to hit forwards or link with fullback Le Roux.
Wasps often string upwards of twenty phases together – their continuity controls the tempo of the game, slowly wears down the defensive line and most importantly keeps the ball away from the opposition for long stretches.
It is often said that the best form of defence is offence – the opposition can’t score without the ball. This is certainly true with Wasps – after nearly 20 minutes in the clash against Bath, Wasps had made eight tackles compared to Bath’s 61 and led 19-0 on the scoreboard.
Their phase play is built on quick ball movement and no team uses width like Wasps in the Premiership. Defenses are stretched to the limits as Cipriani and Le Roux shift play with efficient short, medium and long-range passing.
Despite the wide shifts, it seems like there is minimal risk when the ball is going through the hands of these two.
Catch us if you can
Le Roux is almost impossible to shut down on the edges, even a decent rush defence cannot wrap him up with the ball in hand – he is a magician adept at pulling off an ‘escape’ pass seemingly every time.
His finishing prowess with the pass are second to none – he has 13 try assists across European rugby this season, 11 in the Premiership.
What doesn’t show up on the stat sheets is often Cipriani’s involvement in the lead-up work. It is often his late touch and willingness to take it to the line that holds defenders providing space for Le Roux to cash in on the outside.
With Cipriani and Le Roux positioned inside the middle third, all it takes is two passes from the ruck to whip the ball to the fringes where Le Roux has been setting up tries all year.
Wasps play a beautiful, expansive game crafted by the artists Cipriani and Le Roux.
Overload Sweep Plays
The set-piece, in particular, is becoming the masterpiece of their game using a variety of ‘overload sweep’ plays.
Wasps are always looking to attack wide through elaborate backline play. Where teams are now using set piece platforms to reset structure, nearly every set piece by Wasps will involve a wide raid looking for a quick strike.
They incorporate a number of ‘motion’ concepts into their plays – where the key playmakers align in one spot and run in motion a fair distance before receiving the ball at speed wider out, adding an element of deception. Cipriani, in particular, runs a high number of these ‘sweep’ lines.
On this play above, Cipriani (10) will sweep wide behind the centre decoy line, while winger Christian Wade (14) will play first reciever and fed Jimmy Gopparth (12) before Gopparth plays Cipriani behind the screen pass.
The blind side winger (14 below) will often run another sweep line in an attempt to ‘overload’ the far side to create the numbers mismatch.
When Wasps get it right, the plays are a thing of beauty and almost impossible to stop at the speed at which they are run.
Below is a ‘double screen overload’ with both mid-fielders running decoy lines. Cipriani will receive behind the first screen pass and then dish to Wade on the second screen pass, creating a numbers advantage on the far side.
Cipriani, who is so skilled at flirting with the line, holds up the defenders and creates an opportunity against the opposite winger who is left to cover an acre of pasture.
Wasps use the same double screen overload play against Saracens to score a crucial try. Wade injects into the backline with devastating effect, setting up Le Roux for the try.
Just Reward
The commitment to play attacking rugby is paying off for Wasps, who have had a resurgence in the Premiership of late. They know they can score at any time from set-piece play and points are always around the corner if they control the ball.
In Round 10 against Leicester, Wasps were down late 22-20 before running this overload play to stun the Tigers and take the lead 25-22.
Leicester hot on attack shortly after opted to take the three and draw things up at 25-all with 12 minutes remaining.
Despite being equal on the scoreboard, the two teams were anything but similar.
Leicester’s attack has been disjointed and out-of-sync all season, despite being in close games, they have struggled to play with anywhere near the same attractiveness, finesse and intent as Wasps.
The Tigers botched a number of set pieces with basic errors in the last 10 minutes, giving Wasps numerous set piece opportunities of their own.
Each play tested Leicester but didn’t quite come off. The last play resulted in 19 phases under Cipriani’s guidance, and a simple short ball from the flyhalf saw Wasps score the game-winner on the buzzer.
Just reward for playing the game in fine fashion.
Cipriani’s future
The 30-year-old flyhalf is off contract after the season, however, after showing a rich vein of form since returning from a knee injury he should be a valuable pickup by a French club or another Premiership side.
If any side is looking at Cipriani, they must play an attractive brand of pass-heavy, possession-based rugby to get the best of him. He may have lost a yard of pace, but his touch is still sublime.
The more opportunities you give him, the better your return will be as Wasps have shown the blueprint to unlocking the best of Cipriani.
Comments on RugbyPass
I’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
4 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
7 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
13 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
13 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
2 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
4 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to comments