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Cipriani: 'Rugby has changed a lot'

By Liam Heagney
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

New signing Danny Cipriani has given his first impression of Bath as they prepare to head into the new Gallagher Premiership season with their attack rejuvenated by the newly recruited David Williams, who has replaced Girvan Dempsey as attack and backs coach at The Rec.

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Bath disappointingly finished last season in seventh position, their haul of 52 points leaving them 19 points shy of qualification for the end-of-season playoffs they had contested in October 2020 when they finished the previous season 15 points better off in fourth spot on 67 points. 

It was May when Bath announced the recruitment of Williams, a former academy coach at the English club who had since spent the past eight years working in Super Rugby, PRO14 and Top League. The hope now is that his finessing of the Bath attack will give Cipriani and co the blueprint to light up the Premiership in a scintillating fashion.

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Voted the 2018/19 Premiership player of the year when Gloucester qualified for the semi-finals, Cipriani cut his ties with the Kingsholm club in December last year to take a sabbatical from the sport. Snapped up by Bath in late March, he reported for training two months later in May and is now being primed for a Premiership debut with his new club next month. 

Stuart Hooper’s squad have been recording their pre-season preparations in Bath Rugby Unseen, their in-house documentary series in which Cipriani has this week featured in episode two talking about attack and how that part of the game has developed in recent years.

“People have got to the point where they try and attack at all different points on the field, different areas. It’s not so predictable. There is lots of change,” enthused Cipriani, who has signed a Bath deal taking him through to the end of the 2021/22 season. “You see those different types of attack but they all commit to their one shape and what they do and they do it well and that is what we are trying to understand and get to which we are getting to that point and Dave is great at leading that, making sure we can have Bath’s identity, how we attack, our style. 

“It is important to have an all-court game where you have forwards and backs making sure they are staying connected and everyone is working as one. Whether that be people connecting out the back of lines or people connecting in the front line, where ever it might be but understanding that at any point we can attack at any point on the field and making sure we can get the ball there sufficiently. Rugby has changed a lot in the last four, five years which means everyone has a big role to play in attack and it is not separated in any sense. 

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“The attitude of Dave is infectious. He is so enthusiastic and he really does know his rugby from top to bottom. There is so much talent within the squad to work with, there is a lot of one-on-one talent, people to get the ball in hand and go and make a lot of runs and beat people whether it be in the forwards or the backs. We have got a lot of ball-handling forwards which is a great sign because it means we can get the ball through their hands into the backs and move it onto an edge because it is important we try and release our backs as best as we can.”

Set to turn 34 in November, Cipriani hasn’t played a match since Gloucester faced Leicester last November. Despite this lengthy layoff, though, Williams has high hopes for the Cipriani-led Bath attack in a season that will begin with the September 18 trip to Sale. “It is not about rebuilding, it is about trying to find margins where you can make this style come alive,” said the assistant coach who joined Bath from the Durban-based Sharks.  

“How I have changed as a coach would be I have really been clear pulling little bits from each people and you have got a real rounded view of how you view the game and how it can be played. That is the clarity when you are presenting in meetings or reviewing a game and planning training sessions you know this is the outcome you want to achieve.

“Coming back after eight years of travelling around the world and working with some great coaches and stealing ideas from people I have got a really sound understanding of how I view the game and hopefully unifying it with how Bath view the game to create a great product.”

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Meanwhile, Bath’s September 4 pre-season friendly away to Munster in Limerick has been cancelled due to Covid affecting the Premiership club. “We are hugely disappointed that we are unable to play this fixture and apologise to all supporters planning to attend. The health and safety of our players, staff and wider rugby community remains our top priority,” said Hooper.

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J
Jon 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 9 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

36 Go to comments
A
Adrian 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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