ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
Cipriani has shot himself in the foot once too often…
‘Can Cipriani be trusted? I suspect Eddie Jones will decide he can’t and, frankly, who could blame him?’
EWhen enough was when Danny nightclub a few my I more heard Cipriani’s is incident. first enough. details the thought news latest came That of through on resisting that a just female — confirmed arrest especially police — officer I’m my laying initial afraid while hands reaction. pleasure, I say this but with when absolutely will Danny no stop foot? shooting When will himself he start in acting the like an adult, a professional athlete and a role model?
ultimately the events in Jersey are all down to him. He has let so many people down again. Not least himself.
For Danny, a night on the town with colleagues — a so- called bonding session — is an accident waiting to happen. Why put yourself in that situation?
I have no idea why professional rugby persists with these outdated ‘organised bonding’ sessions. Isn’t it enough to go through tough battles together and enjoy the occasional spontaneous night among colleagues while always knowing you are in the public eye?
The tragic thing is he will look back on his career with massive regret and rue the opportunities he has denied himself by his own behaviour.
You can never have that time back again. It will haunt him horribly.
Danny was publicly backed yesterday by gloucester, who have demonstrated an uncommon loyalty to a player who has yet to represent them. I admire that because Danny clearly needs help, support and structure in his life.
But I doubt if Eddie Jones will be so sympathetic when it comes to England which, for the first time, I will fully understand. The balance of an international team is always on a knife-edge.
If an incident like this occurred during the World Cup next year, it would cost England the tournament. You have to trust every player on and off the pitch, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Can Cipriani be trusted by Eddie and the rest of the England team who are also under scrutiny but remain disciplined in their personal lives and behaviour? I suspect Eddie will now decide that he can’t and who could blame him?
Eddie made Cipriani wait for his chance — way too long in my opinion — but that was partly because he needed to know if he could trust the ‘new’, reformed Danny. Well, now he knows that, deep down, he probably can’t. That will now always be in his mind when he selects his England squads.
I have taken some stick for my loyalty towards Cipriani but I have always I don’t apologise been a massive for that. fan It’s and his sheer talent and work ethic in training I have always admired but sometimes, extreme talent comes hand in hand with a difficult, or different temperament, that needs to be handled. over the years English sport has generally not been very good at handling special players who are out of the ordinary — on and off the field — and there have definitely been periods when I believe Cipriani got a very rough deal from England. Infinitely inferior players have been picked ahead of him to the considerable detriment of the team. I always gave individuals like Cipriani the benefit of the doubt, I liked having these challengi n g guys
around.
I would always give them a chance if I believed we could get them into the right mindset. Sometimes there would be a setback and they would need another chance or two but if you see them improving and willing to improve there can be a huge upside. You end up with an even better player who you deeply trust.
I cannot imagine, however, working with a player at the highest level — regardless of talent — who would get himself into a situation where he swears at a policewoman and she is left with bruising to her arm and marks on her neck.
Personally, I would have loved to have been his coach, to make him feel wanted and put him at the centre of things and then see that talent destroy top- class Test teams and dominate global tournaments. It has frustrated me immensely to see him kicking his heels, so just imagine how Cipriani must have felt.
But all that counts for nothing if you haven’t got the common sense and self-discipline to keep out of trouble and conduct your life in a way which makes you fit to represent your country.
You can be excused the occasional aberration — young men have to grow up and most individuals make mistakes along the way — and on those occasions you take your punishment and go forward a wiser, and hopefully changed, person. But Cipriani has never really moved forward or changed.
Having first seen Cipriani dominate games at the age of 13 playing in the same schools team as my son, I find this so frustrating. I am sure Danny has tried and that he desperately wants to represent his country against the best in the world. But he just can’t help himself. When you pull on that white shirt you are representing your country, not just yourself. It’s a responsibility as well as a privilege and, for all his ability, I am left to conclude, sadly, that Cipriani has never fully understood that. Now it’s almost certainly too late.
DANNY CIPRIANI’S Test career should be over as a result of the latest unsavoury episode in his controversial career — according to World Cup-winning England coach Sir Clive Woodward.
The fly-half yesterday pleaded guilty at Jersey Magistrates Court to common assault and resisting arrest. He was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £250 in compensation to a female police officer who was left with bruises on her arm and red marks on her neck following the ugly incident in St Helier in the early hours of Wednesday.
His club, Gloucester, have declared their support for the 30-year- old and it is understood that the Rugby Football Union will not prevent England coach Eddie Jones picking Cipriani for the autumn Tests if he wishes, providing no further disciplinary action is taken. However, in his Sportsmail column today, Woodward — a staunch supporter of the playmaker for several years — argues that he has run out of lives.
‘When I heard the news, my first thought was “enough is enough”, and when more details came through yesterday, I’m afraid that just