Guscott: Cipriani magic can lift Bath
It’s hard to say if Danny Cipriani is the missing piece to get Bath back on top – and whether he can change things on his own – but his job will be a lot easier if he has a formidable pack in front of him. It just makes life so much easier for the half-backs.
For some inexplicable reason Bath went from finishing fourth in 2020 to eighth last season with pretty much the same playing personnel. Now they go again with a new man at the reins capable of producing sublime rugby.
Danny brings an X-factor to attacking rugby, especially as we don’t see that much of it these days. But with the reality of where we are now, with no relegation for two seasons, we should see a lot more attacking rugby.
If you think that Harlequins won the title playing the kind of rugby they did because of no relegation last season, attacking rugby should be in vogue for the next two seasons at least which should be extremely encouraging for Danny as he can show off his full ability.
I don’t know of a more experienced attacking mind on a rugby field in the Premiership. There are other top class 10s in the Premiership and Saracens are back up with Owen Farrell at 10. But Cipriani has an edge in attacking terms.
Farrell is 30 next month and has been around the Premiership since he was a teenager, so his experience is invaluable – but Danny’s attacking flair in reading defences and his ability to put the ball into the space where a player should be running is the difference between the two.
Farrell likes the modern day attacking shape – which we see Saracens and England do a lot – and he’s brilliant at it. Then there’s the old fashioned style of attack, where from quick ball an overlap is created so you go through the hands to exploit it.
Danny sees things naturally and can play what’s in front of him. He can play the modern way like Farrell, but he can also play old fashioned. And the old fashioned way doesn’t normally encompass a long pass over the top which draws the defence out to the touchline where your space is gobbled up. You don’t see it very often but Cipriani definitely has the ability to play both ways whereas I think Farrell is a bit more limited in that he likes the formula.
A lot of the times when I see the modern, diamond shaped attack players can’t adapt because it’s been pre-programmed. They run the shape, they run the programme, and even though an almighty gap has opened up, because it’s not part of the programme, they butcher it. An old fashioned backline attack would be: catch, draw, give; catch, draw, give; catch, look – see space – put the ball into space and believe the next player has read where the space is and can run into it.
New Zealand still do it brilliantly and that’s what I think Danny Cipriani can bring to Bath.
His big challenge in attack is getting his teammates on the same page by explaining what he understands and training in practical ways and talking about the theory of it off the pitch. After that it is just a case of rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat – and keep on practicing it on the training pitch.
To get that style to work, Bath need to do a lot of two on threes, three on fours and four on fives in different training situations in a bid to create that phase play.
As the pack of forwards will practice their scrum and lineout time after time after time, that’s what in my view three-quarters should be doing. That should be 15-20 minutes a session, taken very seriously. I don’t believe a lot of it goes on but I’d imagine if you went to New Zealand it would happen a great deal.
If I was Danny that is what I would try to encourage happen during his time at Bath.
Everyone knows Danny for his attack and while he’s not renowned for his defence, he needs to try and change that and asking for help will aid his integration into that Bath set-up. He should be asking: what sort of defensive shape have we got and how can I help. Danny’s 33 and in the last three or four years of his playing career, so why not improve one of the areas that’s perceived to be a weakness.
If he does ask how he can best fit in, I think the players would be surprised and he will be included very quickly for asking for that kind of support.
We know his attacking acumen is second to none – he can chip a ball onto a sixpence; he can pass the ball accurately and he’s still got reasonable pace.
Hopefully Bath are prepared to understand where the next two seasons should take them. A clever team is going to enhance and harness the power of the pack, and then improve attack. No Bath team has improved it really in the last several seasons because everyone has been too worried about survival.
Now they don’t have to worry about relegation, their attacking games should develop exponentially because there is nothing to lose. Danny Cipriani’s dreams have all come true.
Hopefully Cipriani can release the potential of Jonathan Joseph, Anthony Watson, Joe Cokanasiga, Max Clark and Max Ojomoh – and what a midfield pairing it could be with Scotland international Cameron Redpath at 12.
Wingers have been bereft of good ball forever it seems and now with two seasons without jeopardy, wingers should be rubbing their hands waiting for those passes and clever cross-kicks, especially with someone like Cipriani at 10. They just have to look after him a bit in defence and make that area of his game as good as he can get it.
Going from fourth to eighth in one season is not good for anybody and the playing squad at Bath should be aiming higher.
Hopefully they have worked out why, rectified it and can get into that top four again. But with Exeter, Saracens, Bristol, Quins and Sale in the mix, they will not be given easy passage into the playoffs, they will have to really earn it.
“Danny sees things naturally and can play what’s in front of him”