Cipriani: The 5 player clique that ran England 'like the Mafia'
Former England flyhalf Danny Cipriani has complained of scheming within the 2015 training camp that preceded the ill-fated Rugby World Cup campaign of 2015.
Stuart Lancaster’s side infamously failed to make it out of the pool stages of their own tournament, a campaign that Cipriani played no part in.
Now Cipriani in his explosive new autobiography – ‘Who Am I?’ – he has named four of the current England squad as running a Mafia-like leadership group during the tournament in an extract from his new book which is being serialised in The Sunday Times and The Sun.
The former England playmaker names a ‘clique’ that includes current England players Owen Farrell, George Ford, Dan Cole and Ben Youngs; all whom allegedly controlled the squad dynamic under Lancaster.
Although initially he thought he got on with the players, Cipriani writes that he found out he was persona non-grata following a Whats App back and forth while in camp.
“A clique of players helps run the team: Owen Farrell, George Ford, Chris Robshaw, Dan Cole, Ben Youngs, a couple of others.
“They’re called “the leadership group”, but more like the mafia, always appearing to be scheming.
“Still, I get on fine with most of them. At least I think I do.
“Sam’s [Burgess] in a WhatsApp group with the mafia, until one day, he posts a picture on Instagram of me and him in a coffee shop. A few hours later, George screenshots the picture and messages it to Sam, before removing him from the group.
“Sam couldn’t care less but I’m not sure what I’ve done to offend them. Clearly I’m not as welcome as I thought I was.”
Cipriani was dropped by Lancaster, despite picking up a man of the match award in a Rugby World Cup warm-up game against Argentina.
“You copped out, mate,” Cipriani told Lancaster after he was axed. “You never even played me at No10. But I did all I could and I respect your decision.”
He also recounts his side of the story when he fell out with attack coach Mike Catt, shortly after learning of his non selection for the tournament while still in training camp.
“I’ve just been told I’m not in the World Cup squad and now I’m pushing a heavy sled around the field. It’s as dumb as it gets, but I’m mucking in. Suddenly, attack coach Mike Catt screams, “For f***’s sake, Danny, put your back into it!”
“I don’t say anything, but I think, What the f*** is his problem? Catt’s had beef with me for years.
“He’s slagged me off in the papers, called me a liability and once whacked me around the head when I was playing for Wasps and he was playing for London Irish. At the final whistle I refused to shake his hand and his team-mates accused me of being a d***head.
“But as far as I was concerned, it was all water under the bridge. I get back to pushing this sled and a couple of minutes later, Catt comes at me again: “F***ing hell, Danny, is that the best you can do?”
“I stop what I’m doing, give him my best “don’t you f***ing speak to me like that” stare and get back to pushing, but my heart’s not in it.
“They’ve just told me I’m not playing in the World Cup and now this w***** is taking the p*** out of me.
“It happens again — “F***ing shit, Danny, work harder!” — this time I’ve had enough.
“I walk straight towards him, get in his face and say, “Have you got something to say to me, Mike Catt?”
“He starts stuttering, before screaming in my face, spittle flying everywhere, “As long as I’m involved, you’ll never play for England again!”
Comments on RugbyPass
“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to comments