Hughes excited by return of ‘world-class’ Cipriani

Nathan Hughes believes former Wasps team-mate Danny Cipriani is ready to mark his international return by orchestrating the end of England’s losing run.

Eddie Jones’ men conclude an unsuccessful tour of South Africa in today’s third and final Test at Newlands, having already surrendered the series and extended their winless streak to five matches.

England’s head coach has reacted to events at Free State Stadium last weekend by selecting Cipriani at fly-half at the expense of George Ford in what will be the 30-year-old’s first start since 2008.

Having fallen in and out of favour with a succession of Jones’ predecessors, Cipriani has finally convinced the Australian that he is no longer the divisive figure once viewed as a disruptive influence.

And hughes reckons england will profit from the presence of a player who rejected lucrative offers from France and Japan to keep his international dream alive.

“Danny is a world-class player,” the Fijian-born Wasps number eight said.

“I’ve played with him for two years and before that I played against him.

“As an attacking player, he’s very hard to defend against. He’s a had a good week and a good camp and now he has the opportunity to start.

“We’ve been hanging around a lot together for the two years he’s spent at Wasps. People say things about Danny but they’re not true.

“If you spend time with him you learn that he has a lot of time for people and he wants to get to know you and how you’re feeling. That’s what I love about him.

“Danny never gave up on England and has worked really hard to get back in the team.

“I’m so excited to see him get the chance to perform this week because I know that’s what he’ll do.”

Springboks captain Siya Kolisi predicts the presence of Cipriani will add a new dimension to England.

He believes that the maverick figure will be pulling the strings for an England team determined to sound a triumphant noteat the end of their tour.

“England can’t change a lot from a week ago, but Cipriani is a different type of player,” Kolisi said.

“He’s different to George Ford and you need to expect anything from him. He thinks outside the box. We know how much they want to win the game, so their intensity will be high.

“We all know that we can’t relax because we know how good England can be from the past two games when they’ve led from the beginning.

“We can’t relax because we want to finish this series properly. It will be another two months before we play again so we want to leave a good taste in the mouth.

“We can’t focus too much on winning or losing, we just have to make sure we leave everything on the field. We’ve won the series, but we’re not where we want to be.”