$ 10m Lance blow
DANNY CIPRIANI has his admirers and he has his detractors – but neither side can argue he possesses a certain fl air for the dramatic.
After eight years away, it took precisely 44 seconds on his return to Twickenham for the reformed bad boy of English rugby to cross for a try against Italy. As Graham Gooch once asked Ian Botham when he took a wicket with his fi rst ball on his England cricket comeback after a three- month drugs ban: “Who writes your scripts?”
Cipriani’s response to scoring was instructive, though. After so long away – and 142 minutes of patient waiting on the bench as an unused substitute, a wild celebration might have been in order. There was nothing. Not a fl icker.
He might not be a natural fi t for Stuart Lancaster’s roundhead army but, boy, is this cavalier trying. The England career, which looked destined to stretch on for a decade when he dazzled as a 20- year- old debutant under Brian Ashton, has been interrupted for too long; he is desperate not to waste another minute of it.
“I was in a fantastic Wasps side and things happened a certain way, so when I came into the England team under Martin Johnson, I had to adapt to a different system. I just thought it would have gone the same way as it did at Wasps, but it didn’t,” said Cipriani.
“I probably took it for granted a bit. At the time I didn’t say I took it for granted but you don’t really appreciate the moments as they come along.
“That’s what I’m doing now; every moment and every experience I am appreciating.
“There’s no way I want to be out of this England side ever again, for as long as I’m playing. I’m very focused on making the best of my ability.”
The reception Cipriani received from the Twickenham crowd when he came on indicated how glad they were to see him back. That hit home.
Under the direction of his mentor Steve Black, who steered Jonny Wilkinson through his career, Cipriani writes a nightly diary to underline what gifts each day has given him. Item No1 on Saturday night was the warmth of that ovation.
“It does feel like I have been away for a while but to get the reception that I did was very humbling. It was one of the highlights of my career to get back out there,” he said. There is nothing
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cited. LANCE Armstrong has been fi ned $ 10 million for “an unparalleled pageant of international perjury, fraud and conspiracy” when lying about using performanceenhancing drugs.
The verdict came from an arbitration panel ruling in his dispute with SCA Promotions.
The Dallas- based company were forced to pay Armstrong $ 7.5m in 2006 after a row over monies due relating to his seven Tour de France wins.
However, Armstrong, who admitted doping in all seven, was found to have lied in the proceedings. TWO- TIME Tour de France winner Alberto Contador may retire in 2016. He said: “My dream has been to go out at the top.”