Savvy Cipriani showing who’s boss - but he is pernickety!
THE second coming of Danny Cipriani is driving Wasps’ surge for silverware according to Joe Simpson.
Prodigal son Cipriani, 28, returned this summer after a six-year absence on a mission to restore Wasps to their trophy-winning preeminence of the Noughties, as well as boosting his own chances of adding to his 14 England caps.
With Cipriani at the helm, Dai Young’s side have produced some scintillating rugby, notching 17 tries in their first three games.
No.9 Simpson, below, has noticed big differences in his old Wasps academy colleague, telling The Rugby
Paper: “The first time around things came pretty easily to Danny – he was England’s golden boy who got straight in ahead of Jonny Wilkinson.
“Things didn’t go smoothly for him after that, but he’s now come to a Wasps team that hasn’t won anything yet and he has the responsibility of taking us to another level and driving the improvement that’s required to get us there.
“He’s got a far more mature head on his shoulders and whereas a few years ago he was very instinctive and played what he saw, he’s still got that but is now far more savvy on the game-management side.
“We’re still bedding in together after so many years apart, but our partnership is growing and we’re working
well.” Cipriani remains a Marmite-like figure who continues to divide opinion, but Simpson insists the Londoner’s attitude is spot on. He added: “Danny’s stepped straight back in and is bossing me and everybody else around like he’s never been away. He’s been so keen and enthusiastic to get boys in the right lines and call all the right plays.
“Having people with such desire to win is key and although sometimes he can be pernickety, you need everything spot on so that when you’re in the 75th minute and you’re blowing, running the right lines becomes second nature.
“Danny’s driving that and he’s working well with Jimmy Gopperth outside him. You won’t see that combination all the time because we’ve got Kyle Eastmond, Nick De Luca and Kurtley Beale as well, there’s so much potential.”
Simpson’s compelling form, along with that of the equally electric Dan Robson, saw both Wasps No.9s called into England’s recent training squad.
With Test incumbents Danny Care and Ben Youngs so far failing to catch fire with struggling Harlequins and Leicester respectively, Red Rose boss Eddie Jones must be considering his options ahead of the autumn matches.
Simpson said: “Robbo and I don’t talk about usurping Care and Youngs, but I was delighted to be named in that wider squad. That’s just the beginning, though - we now have to push on and keep improving our performances.
“We we have important jobs when you have a Wasps side that has such depth and pace out wide.
“We like to force the pace of games and we know if we can wear teams down the space will come up that 13 channel with Elliot Daly. That’s what’s been happening so far and it’s now about achieving consistency over the season.”
Simpson said: “We’ve got fantastic players but an area that let us down last season was repeating things every week. We’d blow away teams and look like worldbeaters, but then in other games look heavy and sluggish, make wrong decisions and not be able to replicate what we’d done before.
“That’s what Saracens have perfected over the course of their revolution. We play a different way to Saracens, who are more prescriptive, but we need to develop our Plan B to kill off teams in tight games.”
Simpson’s recent bid for Olympics glory ended with an elbow injury pre-tournament, but he has no regrets, adding: “I loved my experience and I learnt from it those guys are freakishly fit. It’s a shame I didn’t make the Olympics, but I was hugely honoured to be invited.”