Starting for first time in a decade, Cipriani says... NOW I MUST KEEP MY ENGLAND PLACE
WHEN the moment finally came after a decade of waiting, Danny Cipriani insisted he had never given up hope of wearing No 10 for England again. And now he is back, he is determined to stay.
The 30-year-old will start a Test for his country tomorrow for the first time since 2008, but rather than treat the occasion as a culmination of his personal quest, he has already shifted focus. Having forced his way into Eddie Jones’s plans, leading to yesterday’s promotion at the expense of George Ford, he has his sights on next year’s World Cup.
Asked if he feared this day would never come, Cipriani said: ‘No, I didn’t.’ As for his future, he added: ‘ I want to be in this England team for as long as I possibly can.’
It is impossible to overstate just what a crusade this has been for a precocious playmaker whose face had appeared to not quite fit, either in this England regime or in the last. Yet, the selection was taken in his stride.
Cipriani revealed that his mother, Anne, had shown far greater emotion on hearing the news than he had — while knitting a top for her dog, Rocky.
He also paid tribute to the man he referred to as his ‘super-dad’, Jonny Wilkinson’s former mentor, Steve Black, who has helped transform a controversial character into a likeable and composed figure. ‘I have trained with Blackie for five or six years,’ he said. ‘He has been able to simplify things to do with everything in my life and given me a better, rounded view of things.
‘We’ll probably speak later. He’ll tell funny stories, because he is a funny man. I’ll tell him some of the stuff I’ve been reading, some of the stuff I’ve been doing. It’s just nice to have that sounding board, someone to speak to like that. He’s like a super-dad!’
Cipriani is poised to win only his 16th Test cap but he has come to terms with how his fractured international career has unfolded. ‘I wouldn’t be here now if things hadn’t happened in the last X years,’ he said. ‘Maybe I’d have had more caps, who knows? But now I am here, I’ve got an opportunity to represent my country.
‘I persevered and made sure I did everything to get back into the squad. Now I have to make sure I take it with both hands and play to the best of my ability. I’m determined to make sure things go well.’
South Africa are on a state of alert and Cipriani’s Wasps teammate, full back Willie le Roux, has warned them to prepare for trouble. After naming a reshuffled line-up for tomorrow’s Test at Newlands, head coach Rassie Erasmus said: ‘Willie says that he has learned so much from Cipriani, about running lines and picking the right options. He has played some wonderful rugby.
‘He’s going to test us with his little kicks, late passes and late picking of lines to put people through holes. He’s making us nervous.’
Jones dropped Ford from the match-day 23 entirely to accommodate Cipriani and an extra forward on the bench. As expected, he promoted Joe Marler and Nathan Hughes into the starting XV to fill in for the absent Vunipola brothers.
He also reinstated former captain Chris Robshaw at blindside flanker a week after dropping him, as Brad Shields is ruled out with food poisoning.
Robshaw might have been wounded by his demotion but Jones said: ‘I don’t think we need a reaction from him. Every game he plays he gives 100 per cent. He’ll give us an absolutely committed performance.’
Meanwhile, England confirmed yesterday that Saracens lock Nick Isiekwe, who started the first Test, suffered a broken hand in training earlier this week. He suffered the damage during a wrestling drill, at a time when clubs are increasingly concerned about the toll of casualties at England training sessions.