Stuart Lancaster has to trust Danny Cipriani after six years in wilderness
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Version 0 of 1. Memo to selectors: beware the perils of prevarication. Your sins will find you out. I have previous here. First time around I was given the elbow by England because, it was said, of a sub-standard performance in the lineout which, when I looked at the tape, wasn’t that shabby. In fact I caught all four of the balls called to me and my mood wasn’t improved when a No8 who rarely got off the ground in a decade of Test rugby replaced me. It was six years before my next Test and, while I have no argument with the England management’s decision to go with Dean Richards for much of that time, I’d rather have been told: “We prefer the other guy.” Anything rather than being fobbed off with some lame excuse, or any excuse at all, for that matter. Selection is as much about instinct and experience as statistics and, especially at Test level, should be about long-term gain rather than the here and now and a short-term fix. I mention this now because some time in the six years since Danny Cipriani’s last international Test start, it appears that England told the fly-half that there were doubts about his defence and that his kicking stats weren’t up to snuff either. Well he’s gone away and worked on both, so why, given the current set of circumstances, wouldn’t Stuart Lancaster want to select him now? It’s about trust. Lancaster has to know that he won’t be let down. It’s pretty well documented why, after a stellar start to his Test career – remember the performance against Ireland in the 2008 Six Nations when he replaced Jonny Wilkinson – Cipriani fell out of favour with England and continued to do his reputation no good during two seasons with the Rebels in Melbourne. In fact, I’m not even sure he did himself any favours in the season after signing for Sale. But from the moment he got hit by a Leeds bus in April 2013, Cipriani appears to have seen the light. Initially it could have been seen as merely talking a good fight, but clearly Sale’s director of rugby, Steve Diamond – a man not easily pleased – was impressed because he started picking Cipriani regularly. In turn Cipriani – who by now had turned to Wilkinson’s former mentor at Newcastle, Steve Black; a generous man, happy to give especially when he saw someone who was prepared to give something in return – was curbing his worst excesses and becoming a mature decision-taker. Where he once ran through his box of tricks from the off, Cipriani now played with an understanding of territory and gameplan. Not that the opposition could afford to drop their concentration, only that the tricks were more likely to stay in their box until the game began to loosen up. That approach won Cipriani a summer tour to New Zealand when he let no one down in two Tests from the replacements’ bench and an impressive midweek run-out against the Crusaders in Canterbury. However, when Lancaster watched Sale surprise Northampton recently he made it clear that, although impressed, Cipriani was still fourth in the pecking order of England No10s, behind George Ford, Owen Farrell and Steve Myler. Then Lancaster pulled his own surprise out of the hat, adding Cipriani to England’s elite squad (what squad needs four fly-halves?) and now that Farrell is out of the Six Nations, Lancaster has selection problems. Is it to be Myler or Cipriani on the bench behind George Ford at Cardiff next Friday? In the current set of circumstances, and selecting a matchday 23 rather than just a starting XV, I’d argue that it has to be Cipriani. His kicking stats are not measurably worse than Myler’s and there are plenty who would argue that his defence is considerably better, even if it will never be in the teeth-loosening class of Wilkinson. However, for me the clinching argument, especially with the World Cup on the horizon, is which of the two 10s is more likely to turn a losing game around? When the starting fly-half has failed to unlock a defence, to whom do you turn when you need a step, a chip, or a pass into space, timed to perfection? In other circumstances I wouldn’t grumble if Myler was the man. But not this time. On Friday night in Cork Henry Slade is due to play fly-half for the Saxons against Ireland Wolfhounds in a game which could supply Lancaster’s World Cup squad with as many as five players. The Six Nations may be too soon, but if Slade is comfortable at 10, 13 and 15, that might be too much cover for Lancaster to resist. Thus if the head coach does not trust Cipriani enough to put him in the matchday 23 for next Friday in Cardiff, he might as well cut him free. If Cipriani doesn’t play in this Six Nations, he might as well pack his England bags for good, and Lancaster should tell him so. |