Cipriani tames the wild child

he can do about the lost years when, dropped by Johnson who had brought him back too soon after a horrible ankle injury, he went walkabout to Australia, where he enhanced his nocturnal reputation more than his playing credentials.

Even on his return to the Premiership with Sale, trouble followed him as he came off second- best in a collision with a bus on a pub crawl in Leeds.

But since he came under Black’s wing just under two years ago, the direction of his life has changed.

“I’m just a bit older and uglier, I guess. I’ve learnt a lot of lessons in the last seven years,” he said. “If someone had told me to meet Steve Black when I was 20, I probably would have politely declined but, as you get older, you mature and see things in a different light.

“You grow up and gaps in your life get fi lled, whatever they may be. I just feel like I’m in a much wiser position and more stable.

“I’m only 27 so I’m a good three or four years off my peak – I’ve still got a bit of ‘ toe’ so I can still shift about a bit.”

With the No10 starting jersey nailed down by George Ford, Cipriani’s role for England in this championship is likely to be restricted to cameos like Saturday. If understudying a player six years his junior is to be his lot, so be it; he is a company man now.

“At some point maybe the opportunity may come,” he said. “But if it comes in 20- minute spells, I need to do what is right for the team to win the game.

“If it is to come on for the last fi ve minutes and kick the leather off the ball, I have to do it because right now we have a special team building and it is a great opportunity to make sure we win some big matches.

“It is a different skill coming off the bench. There are plenty of areas I can work on and that’s what I will do in the next couple of weeks. But at least I can breathe a bit because I got on the fi eld.”