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'Early on, Cipriani was brilliant... but things did change. When I became more of a threat'
Danny Cipriani’s former understudy at Gloucester says that their relationship changed when he started becoming more of a threat to the former England flyhalf.
Academy flyhalf Lloyd Evans has taken over the reins at pivot following the dramatic departure of Cipriani from Gloucester in December.
“After much deliberation, I have decided to leave Gloucester with the love, support and blessing of my coach and friend George Skivington,” said Cipriani in a statement in December. The news came hot on the heels of the revelation that Scotland 10 Adam Hastings was set to sign for the club.
Cipriani’s departure had been coming down the tracks, with rumours of a no show at a training session. Cipriani had been operating in a mentoring role to the Welshman and graduate of Hartpury but Evans has now given a glimpse of how their relationship altered as the 25-year-old grew from a pupil into a competitor in their last six months as teammates.
In an in-depth interview with Sam Roberts in TheXV, Evans explains how the relationship went south.
“Early on, he was brilliant. He knows the game so well and he would talk to us young players about how he did what he did. He spent a good amount of time with us,” told the TheXV. “I learnt a lot. He left a big impression on me.”
“But things did change. When I became more of a threat; competition for him. Obviously, all relationships change but I felt it, much more in that last six months or so.”
“It’s difficult because I have so much respect for him as a player and a person. But as I say, I was getting picked more often. It changed things between us. And you need that, you need to feel that edge in sport. It’s important.”
“When I was a young boy, I sat in the changing room after a game at Parc y Scarlets with the team, alongside my heroes; Regan King & Stephen Jones. That does something to your soul."
@lloyd_evanss speaks to @samrobertsrugby about his burgeoning career https://t.co/3MNbOZYkgZ
— RugbyPass+ (@RugbyPassPlus) January 16, 2021
Now Evans faces the prospect of the arrival of Hastings from Glasgow, the Cherry and Whites’ biggest transfer signing to date ahead of the 2021/22 season.
“I’m really looking forward to it [Hastings’ arrival]. As I say, I know him a little from playing a couple of times with him when he was at Hartpury before Bath. Yes, he’s competition for my position but people have to understand that is what you need.
“You need to feel uncomfortable. You can’t develop unless people are putting pressure on you. Adam is an incredible player with exactly the skill-set we need at Gloucester. He will make me a better player. There is nothing not to be excited about.”
You can read the full interview on TheXV.rugby HERE. A one year subscription costs just £10 using the promotional CODE: JAN10.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 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
3 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 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.
30 Go to comments