The 'not an honest evaluation' that left Danny Cipriani fuming
Danny Cipriani has opened up on his first start for England in 10 years, an appearance that ultimately proved to be the last time he ever played for his country. It was in Cape Town in June 2018 when Eddie Jones handed the maverick out-half the No10 Test jersey, the first time he had been selected in that position since November 2008.
Cipriani did his best, helping England to defeat the Springboks and snap a losing streak that had called into question the position of Jones as England coach. Instead of a potential third loss in South Africa finishing off the Australian, England won with Cipriani at the heart of their improvement.
However, while England were to progress from there to reach the Rugby World Cup final 17 months later, Cipriani was cast adrift once again and his appearance in Cape Town proved to be the last of his 16-cap career.
He has now revisited getting pushed aside by Jones in his autobiography Who Am I?, which will be published by Harper Collins on September 14 and is currently being serialised by The Times.
In the latest extract, Cipriani wrote: “It’s June 2018 and England have lost four in a row, including an embarrassing mauling by the Barbarians, so Eddie’s under a bit of pressure when we arrive in South Africa for the summer tour. But it’s still mostly Owen Farrell and George Ford running official team meetings.
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“There’s nothing joyful about Eddie’s approach to rugby, which means there’s no sense of excitement among the lads. It’s tough and it’s macho, us against the world, all geared towards getting a group to fight tooth and nail. That can get results short-term, but it’s not a viable long-term strategy.
“It’s clear to me now that the RFU only employed him because they were having a crisis. England had just failed to progress from their group at a home World Cup, losing the RFU millions of pounds, so they went for a bloke who seemed as far away from Lanny (Stuart Lancaster) as possible.
“Under Eddie, our time is micro-managed like you wouldn’t believe. Every night, each player gets a printout, telling him how the following day will look until 6 or 7pm. We’re even told when to sleep and how long for.
“Eddie rules by fear, and you’re never going to get the best out of people with that mindset. Why would a player make a decision based on what they see, which might be different and surprise the opposition, if they know Eddie’s going to come down on them like a ton of bricks if it doesn’t come off?”
England lost their opening two matches against the Springboks. “I’m not in the squad for the first Test in Johannesburg. We’re leading 24–3 after 20 minutes before conceding five tries and losing 42–39. Eddie promotes me to the bench for the second Test in Bloemfontein.
“The Boks are in full control when I get a run out with 15 minutes to go, and while I make a few things happen, we end up losing 23–12, making it six defeats on the spin.”
The loss forced Jones’ hand, the coach turning to Cipriani in England’s hour of need. “It’s my first Test start for ten years and I’m sure I’m going to make a difference.
“It’s not exactly my kind of conditions – ‘Biblical’ is how one journalist describes the downpour at Newlands – but we just do what’s needed. Ben Youngs mostly box-kicks, meaning I don’t get the ball much. But I make my tackles and chase my kicks, and when the chance comes to impose myself on the game, I take it.
“When I receive the ball with nine minutes to go, I scan, see the space and execute, all in a split second. I don’t have time to think, ‘Is this the right thing to do?’
“I’m acting on well-practised instinct. When the ball leaves my foot, I think I’ve overdone it, but Jonny May, who’s like shit off a shovel, reaches the ball first and dots it down just before it dribbles out of play.
“We end up winning 25-10 to give the tour a veneer of respectability. But sitting in the changing room afterwards, it doesn’t feel like we’re a band of brothers, it feels like 23 blokes who have just completed individual missions. Only later does it occur to me: I might have just helped save Eddie’s job…”
A few months later, Cipriani was omitted from the England squad for the 2018 autumn internationals. “Eddie says the decision is 100 per cent based on form and that I’m probably the fourth best fly-half in the country. Eddie keeps banging on about my lack of work rate off the ball, but who picks a fly half based on their work rate off the ball?
“As it stands, I’m the best decision-maker in the country, maybe the world, and as Eddie’s seen with his own eyes, I only need one chance to win a game. It’s not an honest evaluation of what’s happening. I’m even starting to wonder if shadowy figures at the RFU are leaning on him.
“Eddie calls me and says I need to be better at going to the line. I say, ‘Eddie, I’m the best in the world at going to the line.’ If Eddie doesn’t want to pick me, cool. But just be honest about it. Say you want to play the game a certain way and I don’t fit in with it.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Danny 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.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 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.
2 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
2 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 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!
5 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 …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
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