Jones explains why he's left out Cipriani
Eddie Jones has defended the decision to leave Danny Cipriani out of his 36-man England training squad which will gather in Bristol at the end of the month.
Asked whether it was a form-based decision Jones said: “One hundred per cent. We’ve decided to pick just two fly-halves for this camp. Danny is probably third or fourth and he knows what he has to work on. He understands that.
“We’ve got Owen and George who I believe are our first choice fly-halves. Danny is disappointed but he understands what he has to do. He is desperate to play for England which is terrific.”
Jones insists that the Gloucester outhalf still remains in contention for the Rugby World Cup.
“He has a great chance. “He has as much opportunity as any players in the squad and outside the squad.”
Eddie gives you the lowdown on @Manutuilagi, @dannycare, and England's new defence coach John Mitchell: https://t.co/gLp457pMJj pic.twitter.com/RuuOd00ssO
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) September 20, 2018
Cipriani was involved in a high-profile incident in Jersey while on tour with Gloucester during pre-season, pleading guilty to assault and having to pay a fine of £2,000.
He then faced an RFU Independent Disciplinary Committee in late August over the matter, where he was warned over his conduct but received no sanction.
Continue reading below…
You may also like: Scotty & Mils discuss All Blacks concerns
It appeared that Jones was willing to move on from the incident, stating 15 days ago:“Danny has been dealt with and was punished by his club and the RFU dealt with it and he is back playing. We will look at how he is going.
“Has he got an England future? That will be determined by how well he plays and we never close the door on anyone and everyone makes mistakes and he was very contrite afterwards and realised he has done the wrong thing and we move on from that now.”
But despite his impressive Premiership form this season it appears Cipriani will remain on the margins. Cipriani made his first start of England in almost ten years while on the June tour to South Africa.
There has been surprise online to Jones’ decision. Ellis Lane tweeted “Danny Cipriani has been man of the match twice in three games this season for Gloucester. But Eddie Jones says his omission has been based on form.
Danny Cipriani has been man of the match twice in three games this season for Gloucester. But Eddie Jones says his omission has been based on form.
— Ellis Lane (@EllisLane3) September 20, 2018
Alex Shaw of RugbyPass said “Gloucester sign Danny Cipriani, who tears up in the last England match, pulls strings like Geppetto in the Premiership and adds an unrivalled passing game on the gain-line, but they still can’t get an England call up. Kingsholm curse.”
Gloucester sign Danny Cipriani, who tears up in the last England match, pulls strings like Geppetto in the Premiership and adds an unrivalled passing game on the gain-line, but they still can’t get an England call up. Kingsholm curse.
— Alex Shaw (@alexshawsport) September 20, 2018
But others have called for calm.
It’s a training squad not the autumn internationals squad. Chill the fuck out.
— Gareth Morgan (@Morgy1312) September 20, 2018
Chris Ashton who is yet to play a Premiership game this season due to a 7-week ban for a dangerous tackle in a pre-season game against Castres remains in the squad. The former Toulon man has not played for England since 2014.
Manu Tuilagi was recalled to the training squad on Thursday, he hasn’t been in an England shirt since the 2016 Six Nations.
“It’s the first time in the three years I’ve been in England that Manu’s been fit”, Jones told the RFU website.
“He’s put together a series of games and we’re looking forward to him continuing on that run. He’s got the opportunity to come in and show us what he’s got.”
In other news: Wallabies and Reds centre Samu Kerevi speaks about new deal
Comments on RugbyPass
I’d say France was far more hard done by in the 2011 final than the All Blacks in this game. Joubert simply refused to call a penalty against the All Blacks in the last quarter even directing an All Black to drop a ball he picked up in an offside position rather than penalizing him. This article also totally discounts the efforts of PSTD. Ask Jordie how well he played. Or the backup flank who played hooker for the entire game. Siya was also a brilliant tackle by Richie from scoring a blinder. Pollard was also fantastic. Look I don’t like the boks style but the only thing more questionable than the content of this article is the timing of it. Get over it already
139 Go to commentsDad Marty was also a handy rugby player for Linwood back in the day. Great bloke. Sensational softball career.
2 Go to commentsWhat ifs are always dangerous. If you look at the game before Sam cane got sent of SA was dominating. You could make the argument the going down to 14 men rallied the troops and made them have to play to win which is always dangerous.
139 Go to commentsOmg… you are bruised And battered Benny. Stop crying … the scoreboard speaks. What a pathetic lover you are.. 🤣🤣🤣
139 Go to commentsPacific Lions, cry me a river
139 Go to commentsThis is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
139 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
139 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
139 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
139 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
139 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
139 Go to commentsHo hum.
139 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
139 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
139 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
139 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
139 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
139 Go to comments