Here's proof that last Sunday wasn't the first time Cipriani pulled off that bizarre kick
Gloucester’s Danny Cipriani has split opinion over the past few days following a bizarre kick he made against Connacht at Kingsholm on Sunday.
Leading 19-10 in the second half of their Champions Cup encounter, Cipriani attempted a bold cross-field punt in his own 22.
Shaping up to clear the ball long, the fly-half cannoned a low, flat kick out wide to full-back Tom Marshall, who in turn put winger Louis Rees-Zammit away for a surge down the line.
Since then, a shedload of fans have debated whether this was intentional or not from the out-of-favour England international.
Gloucester not only needed to win this match to keep their European hopes alive, they also needed to win with a bonus point (which they did in the end).
What do you think…
Did @DannyCipriani87 mean to do this? 🤔#HeinekenChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/V4BSdyFRpO
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) December 8, 2019
This could have been Cipriani forcing the issue as he is a player who has produced some jaw-dropping moments of magic over the years. He added another to his catalogue of genius moments on Sunday – whether it was intentional or not.
Equally, if this kick was not executed to absolute precision, the 32-year-old could have been under his posts only seconds later after a Connacht try. The margins for a play like this were razor-thin, but it was from a talisman that has played high-risk rugby his whole career.
Rugby World magazine stirs the pot with a World XV for 2019 where South Africa don't have it all their own way
https://t.co/hLPjphfOE8— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 10, 2019
The most compelling proof that this may have been intentional was a very similar kick he did last season against Harlequins.
His effort on that occasion did have slightly more height, but it was against a much more oppressive Harlequins defence as he did not stand as deep. Although he did have a penalty advantage, this goes to show that he does have this kick in his repertoire.
Starting to run out of superlatives for @DannyCipriani87 this year…🌟
But this…this was just ABSURD 😱
Problem: Get the ball from one side of the pitch, to the other, in one pass 🤨
Solution: Give it to Cipriani, easy 👟🏉Player of the year in your eyes? ✨ pic.twitter.com/qQP0pVoA1y
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) May 16, 2019
Overall, the game against Connacht had a number of unusual kicks; from Cipriani’s 22-metre drop-out straight into touch on the last play of the first half to a deft switch kick to pin the visitors deep in their half.
However, only Cipriani will know if his second-half example was intentional or not.
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Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments