Danny Cipriani named Gallagher Premiership Player of the Year
Danny Cipriani’s stellar debut campaign in Gloucester colours saw him named Gallagher Premiership Rugby Player of the Season at a star-studded awards ceremony.
The 31-year-old has been a key component of the Cherry & Whites this season as they finished third in the table, reaching the semi-finals for the first time in eight years.
Making the move from Wasps in the summer, Cipriani hasn’t been far away from various highlights reels in what has been one of the most competitive and exciting Gallagher Premiership Rugby seasons to date.
His 13 try assists and metronomic boot have kept Gloucester ticking and his head coach Johan Ackermann believes Cipriani deserves his Gallagher Premiership Rugby Player of the Season award, making him only the second person after Wasps’ Jimmy Gopperth to win this and the RPA Player of the Year in the same campaign.
THE BIG ONE
A season filled with exceptional performers from day one ??
But the magician himself, @DannyCipriani87 has been majestic for @gloucesterrugby ?
He is your @GallagherUK Rugby Player of the Season ?#PremRugbtAwards pic.twitter.com/VATFHtLkMG
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) May 22, 2019
“I’m very pleased and so happy for Danny,” said Ackermann. “I’m so proud of him – it’s always a big thing when a player joins a club and there’s a bit of pressure on you to perform. You have to adapt to the style of the team and the coaches involved, and I can only speak highly of Danny’s commitment to the team.
“He’s set-up into the culture, he’s open – we have a good relationship where we’re open with each other and of course he’s made a serious impact on the field. He’s probably got the best skill I’ve seen from a fly-half from an attacking point of view, he can kick well and he’s extremely fast. He knows what he wants in attack and his distribution is top class.
“He’s made an immediate impact and the players around him got the benefit, but also Danny is the one who will always acknowledge the pack in front of him and the players around him, and how they’ve helped him and provided opportunities.”
Ackermann himself was also in the running for a prize at Wednesday evening’s Premiership Rugby Awards, presented by Gallagher, as he found himself on the shortlist for the Ricoh Director of Rugby of the Season.
However, the gong went to Saracens’ Mark McCall, his achievement of finishing second in the League, winning a third European title in three years and finishing as runners-up in the Premiership Rugby Cup seeing him pip Ackermann, Exeter Chiefs’ Rob Baxter, Chris Boyd of Northampton Saints and Bristol Bears’ Pat Lam to the prize.
And the Land Rover Discovery of the Season award was taken home by 20-year-old Tom Curry who has become a senior leader for Sale Sharks this campaign, his work rate in defence and at the breakdown earning him several plaudits.
Curry has also shone on the international stage of late, all of which made him a worthy recipient of the award in the eyes of Land Rover ambassador David Flatman.
“Tom Curry was picked as the winner as he has performed brilliantly for Sale Sharks repeatedly, he’s done it many times this season in a Sale team that wasn’t able to achieve dominance,” Flatman said.
“He’s played well with his team on the front foot and the back foot, plus he’s done it for England. People roll this comment out all the time, so it loses its impact, but he’s a world-class player.
“Tom Curry has done it on every level and he has done it on the back foot. When Sale played Bath and it was 6-3, the game wasn’t the best we’ve seen and we’ve all been in games like that but Tom Curry was absolutely exceptional in that match and it’s hard to work out how someone can star in that game.
“He was just fabulous and I got a text from my dad and he just said, ‘Been watching Curry, can’t get enough of him, this kid is epic’, and my dad nailed it. I can’t get enough of watching him.”
While Curry’s career is still in its infancy, there was a special reward on the night for Richard Wigglesworth who this season surpassed Steve Borthwick on the all-time appearance list. The veteran scrum-half has now made 274 top-flight appearances.
This season has also been one to remember for both Denny Solomona and Cobus Reinach, with the Sale Shark and Northampton Saint dotting down 12 times, meaning they shared the Follador Top Try Scorer award.
The duo went into the last day of the season in a three-way tie on 11 tries – along with Jonny May – but added to their tallies, while Joe Marchant also scored for Harlequins to finish one behind.
There was no doubting who the Gilbert Golden Boot with George Ford’s performances for Leicester Tigers bringing a smile to fans’ faces in an otherwise difficult campaign.
The England fly-half finished top of the pile when it comes to points scored with the boot, amassing 201 points courtesy of 30 conversions and 47 penalties – finishing 22 ahead of runner-up Duncan Weir of Worcester Warriors.
Meanwhile, Gloucester speedster Ollie Thorley took home the Citizen Try of the Season award for his score in round seven against Leicester Tigers. With two minutes to go Thorley finished off a fine flowing move that started from within five minutes of Gloucester’s own try line, and it was no surprise he topped the first-ever public vote for this award.
Rugby players give so much more than just their all on the pitch for 80-plus minutes, and no one demonstrated that more than Bristol Bears hooker Nick Fenton-Wells, with his commitment off the field earning him the plaudits at the ceremony as he was named Gallagher Community Player of the Season.
The season itself started way back in July with the Premiership Rugby 7s at Franklin’s Gardens, with Harlequins’ Calum Waters collecting the London Pride Premiership Rugby 7s Player of the Season gong.
As for the Gallagher Premiership Rugby campaign, BT Sport have been with us all the way this season and their talent selected the below as their BT Sport Dream Team:
15. Alex Goode – Saracens
14. Santiago Cordero – Exeter Chiefs
13. Henry Slade – Exeter Chiefs
12. Mark Atkinson – Gloucester Rugby
11. Ollie Thorley – Gloucester Rugby
10. Danny Cipriani – Gloucester Rugby
9. Cobus Reinach – Northampton Saints
1. Mako Vunipola – Saracens
2. Jamie George – Saracens
3. John Afoa – Bristol Bears
4. Franco Mostert – Gloucester Rugby
5. Will Skelton – Saracens
6. Alex Dombrandt – Harlequins
7. Tom Curry – Sale Sharks
8. Matt Kvesic – Exeter Chiefs
WATCH: The RugbyPass behind the scenes documentary with Bristol Bears
Comments on RugbyPass
Lets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
10 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’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.
10 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.
9 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…??? 🤑🤑🤑
34 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
34 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?
5 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 comments