Cipriani No bust-up behind star’s departure, says Gloucester chief
GLOUCESTER Rugby chief executive Lance Bradley says both Gloucester Rugby and Danny Cipriani agreed “it wasn’t working” anymore ahead of their split on Tuesday.
The most creative fly-half in English rugby was described as a “magician” by Bradley, having starred for the club in 2018/19 when they earned their first play-off appearance in eight years and Cipriani was named RPA Players’ Player of the Year.
Cipriani made 50 passes that led to a break in 35 Premiership appearances for Gloucester, 17 more than any other player in the league in that time. He also registered a league-high 21 try assists in that period.
At his best, Cipriani isn’t just a magician, he is Houdini.
But his vanishing act in the matchday 23 for all but the first round of the 2020/21 campaign, and the Cherry and Whites’ seventh place finish in 2019/20, had many questioning his future.
However, according to club officials, the parting of ways is happening amicably.
Talking to The Mirror, Bradley said: “Mutual consent always makes it sound like there’s some big secret or that some terrible bust-up must have happened, but that’s not the case.
“I understand why people must think there must be a bigger story here, but there really isn’t.
“It’s more that both of us realised it wasn’t working and we’d be better off trying something else.”
Head coach George Skivington said the departure had nothing to do with Cipriani’s self-publicised mental health struggles in recent times, with the player deeply affected by the death of ex-girlfriend Caroline Flack, who took her own life in February.
Cipriani’s life off the field has taken a happier turn in recent months following his engagement to his partner Victoria Rose.
But with reportedly no concrete offers from a next club, but retirement not yet on the cards, the 33-year-old is understood to be considering taking some time out the game before diving back in.
Bradley said: “There’s a lot that has happened in Danny’s personal life – some fantastic, some not so fantastic. All of those things add up and this is where we’ve ended up.
“But there wasn’t a massive fallingout, it’s not acrimonious. Danny will always have a place in this club’s heart.
“Some of the things he did didn’t seem possible. He was a magician.
“I remember once he kicked the ball looking the other way. Anyone else and I’d have called it a shank, but it was Danny and it went straight to the winger, who scored.
“I said to him later, ‘Did you mean that?’. He smiled. ‘What do you think?’ Those kind of memories live with you forever.”