Why surfing in Malibu stopped me from partying
Life on the beaches of Malibu has recharged the Wasps player, he tells Charlie Morgan
After a restorative off-season spent mainly in Malibu – his “happy place” – Danny Cipriani is confident that his second campaign back at Wasps will be punctuated by more assured, accurate performances.
Among the locals he stayed with on the Californian coast was big-wave surfing icon and friend Laird Hamilton – “a radical man to learn from”.
But, although Cipriani made sure not to flush away his fitness levels entirely over the five-week holiday, a permanent job swap does not seem in the offing just yet.
“When you’re younger, you just need a massive break,” said the 29-year-old. “I used to go to America and spend two or three weeks getting drunk. Now I get a lot more satisfaction going out there and spending time with friends and family, doing other physical activities. It’s not training, but it is in a way because you’re keeping very active – it’s enjoyable.
“Surfing is one of those things you’ve got to grow up with, though. Otherwise you keep battling. It’s humbling to have to do that. You see 10-year-olds flying by and you’re struggling to get out beyond the first wave. I’m not even going to attempt what [Laird] does. He’s surfed the three biggest waves in the world – 100-footers.”
Despite promising much with a first-place finish in the regular season, Wasps were denied domestic silverware when Exeter Chiefs snatched an extra-time victory in the Premiership final at Twickenham three months ago.
Six weeks previously, a
32-17 defeat against Leinster in the Champions Cup quarter-final had extinguished their European hopes. Even so, Cipriani was pleased with his overall contribution since arriving in the summer from Sale Sharks.
“When you come to a new team, especially as a fly-half, you’ve got to get a grip of it,” he added. “You implement the way you want to play and what is best for the team. A lot of my play last year was unselfish. That was my role – facilitating.
“Hopefully, by doing that, I created space for our 12, our 13 and our outside backs and you got to see them flourish. That comes from how we work on our team shape and how meticulous we are with our running lines. That’s
‘Our pre-season has been based around assessing and addressing things that didn’t go well’
something I don’t let up on with the boys.
“We’ll have to improve a fair amount to go and win it [this season], because every year the competition gets harder. But to come from a team that finished top, I feel as though I did a pretty good job.”
Having recruited Fiji’s Gabiriele Lovobalavu and Springbok Juan de Jongh to bolster his midfield options as Kyle Eastmond recovers from a torn Achilles, Dai Young anticipates a head-to-head selection battle between Cipriani and Jimmy Gopperth for the 10 shirt. This predicament was largely avoided last term because of Gopperth’s switching to inside centre during a long lay-off for Kurtley Beale. Even so, Cipriani seemed prepared to press a claim for regular starts.
While cool on his England ambitions – “If I talk about international rugby now, it’ll be the headline of every interview” – he did suggest that he expects to assert himself in more matches: “As a fly-half, your second season at a club is always going to go better than the first”. Catching highlights of the Lions series for media commitments constituted Cipriani’s Stateside rugby viewing. However, his memory of three particularly disappointing outings over Wasps’ 2016/17 season is sharp. Indeed, he revealed that those losses, against Exeter and Leinster, plus a dramatic 17-14 win over Toulouse back in January, have shaped the club’s pursuit of improvement in 2017/18, beginning on Saturday against Sale at the Ricoh Arena.
“It felt like the [Leinster] week got away from us,” Cipriani admitted. “I didn’t train all week because I pulled my groin on the Tuesday. It was a fight to fitness for me, which was frustrating because I couldn’t be on the field directing what we needed to do.
“A lot of our pre-season has been based around assessing and addressing things that didn’t go too well in certain games last year. There are probably three to think of that we really need to get better from, in certain styles and situations.
“Those were probably the Premiership final, the Leinster game and Toulouse at home. “I know we got the last-minute win but I just felt like we could have been more organised.
“As a group, we’ve worked really hard at it and the coaches have put it all in place. Now it’s up to us as a group to take it to the next level and take some responsibility and some pride in what we’re doing.”