AXED ON FORM
EDDIE JONES stuck to his guns yesterday, in trademark fashion. England’s head coach insisted that his decision to omit Danny Cipriani from a training camp was based on form, not discipline. Really.
There is no place for the fly-half in a 36-man squad gathering in Bristol next week. Jones has not been swayed by Cipriani’s miracle passes and match-winning deeds for new club Gloucester in the early stages of the season.
The suspicion is that Cipriani is being punished for events in Jersey this summer. But, when asked if the 30-year-old’s conviction for assault in St Helier had any bearing on the decision to overlook him, Jones said: ‘Not for this selection, no.’
According to the head coach, behavioural concerns might impact on his selections for a series or tournament, but not for a training get-together, so he maintained it came down to how Cipriani was performing in comparison to his leading domestic rivals. That and a desire to take just two out-andout playmakers to Bristol.
‘ Ten is a very influential position,’ said the Australian. ‘He is the bus driver and the conductor of the side. If Danny is a better player than Owen (Farrell) and George (Ford), he can promote himself ahead of them. From what I’ve seen at the moment, he is not (ahead of them) in terms of the whole context of the team.
‘He’s done some good things but there are areas of his game he needs to attend to. We’ve decided to pick just two fly-halves for this camp. Danny is probably third or fourth and he knows what he has to work on. He is disappointed, but he is desperate to play for England, which is terrific.’
Jones has a firm belief that Ford is not given due credit for his exploits at club level when compared to the fanfare that greets Cipriani’s best work. ‘Some of the quality of his (Ford’s) play is outstanding,’ he said. ‘But it’s like he’s an invisible man, whereas another player throws one pass and he’s superman.’
High-profile former players have added their voices to the acclaim for Gloucester’s new recruit, but Jones will not be swayed.
‘There are selectors and there are commentators,’ he added. ‘I can’t wait to be a commentator!’ He went on to suggest that Chris Ashton is now ‘more mature’, after picking Sale’s new wing in the squad despite the fact he is currently banned from playing.
He was also upbeat in his assessment of Manu Tuilagi’s latest injury comeback, saying: ‘ I’ve never seen him have as much energy and acceleration since I saw him play in a video.’
When it comes to the captaincy, Jones is ‘100 per cent, massively clear about it’ — which suggests Dylan Hartley will be reinstated for the November Tests, having missed the June tour of South Africa due to concussion.
Jones was equally clear in his conviction England will be well served by their new Kiwi defence guru John Mitchell.
‘I’ve coached against John since 2000 when he took over Waikato, and I know every time I coach against a team he’s coached, he’s improved that team immeasurably,’ said Jones. ‘So it was almost a no-brainer for me.
‘He’s got international experience and he’s a strong guy, too, an opinionated guy and we need that in the coaching box.’
With Australian Scott Wisemantel likely to stay on as attack coach until the World Cup, Jones added: ‘It’s quite exciting. One year to go to the World Cup and we have our coaching staff in place. We have upgraded our coaching staff.’