England select Danny Cipriani to start after a decade of absence
THE mercurial flyhalf Danny Cipriani has had to toil extremely hard to even make it into the England squad, and now, in the final Test to be played tomorrow in Cape Town, he will start a game for his country for the first time since November 2008.
The exciting running flyhalf has however been selected for his kicking attributes as his left boot is set to complement the rest of the backline’s ability to put the ball in the air.
“I feel that this game will revolve a lot around kicking,” coach Eddie Jones said yesterday. “We’ll have a No 10 (Cipriani) who is a left-footed kicking option, a 12 (Farrell) who is right-footed and a 13 ) Slade) who is left-footed. There’s a lot of variety there. It’s going to be a tight game and we’re going to have to take the opportunities that we might have missed in previous games.”
In other changes to the under-pressure English side, Hurricanes man Brad Shields misses out due to an illness which sees former captain Chris Robshaw return to the loose forwards after missing out in Bloemfontein.
Nathan Hughes takes the vacant No 8 jersey from Billy Vunipola who was ruled out with a fractured arm. His brother, Mako, left the squad to attend the birth of his child and thus is replaced by veteran prop Joe Marler.
Sam Simmonds comes on to the bench, as do fellow Exeter forwards Alec Hepburn and Jonny Hill. Jones appeared quite upbeat at his team announcement, knowing that all that is left to play for is pride with the series already wrapped up in South Africa’s favour. “We’ve had a really upbeat training week,” added Jones. “We are up for the battle and are going to rip in on Saturday. We want another committed performance where it will be crucial to maintain our composure when the heat is on.
“I’ve been really impressed with the fortitude of the squad under (captain) Owen Farrell, who is a young captain, and with a number of young players who have really stuck to the task.”
Lock Joe Launchbury added that the Newlands clash may not be a decider, but it is a chance for an embattled England to turn their fortunes around.
“It is easy to view this as a last game of the season, a tour that is over in terms of result, being 2-0 down,” he said. “But what we do have is a massive opportunity to end a run of form which we are desperate to change, get a win here and we know we are capable of it. Any opportunity to play for England is something to cherish and get excited about and I’d be very surprised to see someone in the squad who isn’t. We are desperate to put the record straight this weekend.”