Coach goes in to bat for Cipriani
DITCHING HIM WOULD BE A BIG MISTAKE
England coach Eddie Jones should stick with Danny Cipriani despite a conviction for assault and resisting arrest in a nightclub incident, according to Gloucester boss Johan Ackermann.
After more than five hours, a disciplinary hearing decided on Wednesday to uphold a charge against Cipriani of conduct prejudicial to the game but, significantly, took no further action.
Cipriani, now with English Premiership side Gloucester, had been fined £2 000 and ordered to pay £250 by a court last Thursday following the incident that took place on the club’s pre-season camp on Jersey on August 15.
Cipriani, whose career has been blighted by off the field misdemeanours, made his first England start in a decade in the third Test against South Africa in June and helped create the winning try.
Jones had made it clear in May that further off-field problems could end Cipriani’s time as an England player but Ackermann believes that, ahead of next year’s World Cup in Japan, that ditching him would be a mistake given he is the country’s leading flyhalf.
“All you have to do is speak to Danny to see and understand the person,” Ackermann said at the Gallagher Premiership launch at Twickenham on Thursday.
“You can’t cut off your nose to spite your face by not selecting because of a mistake like that. He’s regretful of what happened and that’s not who he wants to be,” he added.
Meanwhile James Haskell bemoaned the “trial by social media” inflicted on Cipriani, with whom he has played for both Wasps and England.
Cipriani’s case generated plenty of social media comment.
But England flanker Haskell, now with Premiership side Northampton, said much of the talk on forums was worthless.
“It’s a case of trial by social media and the problem with that is that everyone is ill-informed and knows nothing,” he insisted.
“We now live in a world of stitch-up.” – AFP