Cipriani on verge of joining Gloucester
Wasps fly-half set to join Ackermann revolution French clubs frozen out by player’s England call
Danny Cipriani is ready to sign for Gloucester Rugby, The Daily Telegraph understands.
Cipriani’s midweek recall to the England squad to tour South Africa in June was the final piece in the jigsaw for the 30-year-old, who has been released by Wasps and has been looking for a new club.
There has been interest from at least two Top 14 clubs in France, but Cipriani was intent on pressing his claims for England despite the fact that he had not featured under Eddie Jones and won the last of his 14 caps three years ago.
However, he has been in outstanding form for Wasps and is certain to be involved when they take on Saracens in the play-off semi-final at Allianz Park on Saturday.
The lure of fighting for a place in the England squad has driven Cipriani this season and he has never lost faith in his ability. If he had decided to pursue any approaches shown from French clubs and sign for one of them, then his international career would have been effectively over as England do not select from outside the Premiership.
There has been interest from other English clubs, too, notably Bath, but Cipriani appears to have opted for the challenge of helping Gloucester to build on their promise under Johan Ackermann.
Gloucester finished seventh in the Premiership, but have qualified for the Champions Cup next season by dint of reaching the Challenge Cup final in Bilbao on Friday night, when they were edged out in a nailbiting finale by Cardiff Blues, 31-30.
Wasps had already indicated they wanted to take a new direction by signing All Black fly-half Lima Sopoaga for next season. There have always been question marks swirling around Cipriani’s temperament, but there is little doubt he now has the opportunity with an England call-up and a fresh start in the west country to showcase what he can offer club and country.
Even though one of the headline comments from the England camp this week was that Cipriani could be on “the plane back from Johannesburg” if he is a “bad character”, it was more of a throwaway remark from Jones.
The England coach went on to say: “The baggage doesn’t worry me. It is about how he comes in, how he reacts, how he responds to coaching. He has got a creative talent and we don’t want to annul that.”
Jones also said that he wants to use Cipriani at full-back and that will have been a consideration, too, in the talks about his club future.
Former British and Irish Lion and Wales international Gareth Williams has died at the age of 63. He had been suffering from multiple system atrophy. The Bridgend back-row forward won five Wales caps from 1980-82 and toured with the 1980 Lions.