The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
‘Third choice’ Cipriani not selected for England
Head coach Eddie Jones described Danny Cipriani as England’s “third choice” fly-half after leaving him out of England’s squad for the autumn Test series.
Cipriani has been overlooked despite a strong start to the season with Gloucester, which saw him named Gallagher Premiership player of the month for September.
Cipriani, who was fined over an incident at a Jersey nightclub in August, started England’s most recent game against South Africa in June and set up a pivotal try for Jonny May. But he misses out despite being watched four times by Jones this season.
The coach said: “We have got two good 10s (Owen Farrell and George Ford). It is tough on Danny but he is third choice at the moment.”
Jones has made Dylan Hartley and Farrell co-captains for the Tests against South Africa, New Zealand, Japan and Australia because he sees them a great leadership combination.
Jones had to contend with injuries and suspensions when naming his 36-man squad, which contains eight uncapped players.
“The last 12 months have been pretty challenging,” said Jones. “Since the Lions tour we’ve had a number of players missing so we’re quite good at this.”
Farrell and Ford are the recognised fly-halves in the squad, although Henry Slade and Alex Lozowski provide cover in the position.
Ben Morgan makes his first appearance in an England squad since the 2015 World Cup as a result of the crisis at number eight that has seen Billy Vunipola and Sam Simmonds ruled out of the entire series by injury and Nathan Hughes miss all but the final match due to suspension.
Jones said: “I’m really happy with the squad. We can only control what we can control and injuries have happened.
“It gives an opportunity for some good new players to play some important Tests for England while players who have been in the squad before, will have to take on more responsibility.”