Guscott adds his voice to Cipriani World Cup calls

EDDIE Jones has to take Danny Cipriani to the World Cup this autumn, according to legendary centre Jeremy Guscott.

The mercurial Gloucester fly-half has been humming for his club all season, as he guided them to third in the Premiership and a first appearance in the semi-finals since 2011.

Cipriani has not been short of plaudits and has another award to add to the mantlepiece after he was named the Wacky Sox Professional Men’s Player of the Year.

It follows the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Player of the Season and Rugby Players Association Player of the Season awards he has collected.

Former Bath centre Guscott accepted the latest award on Cipriani’s behalf at the first edition of the awards at The Stoop, home of Premiership side Harlequins.

And he is in no doubt about Cipriani deserving to add to his 16 England caps in Japan.

He said: “His performances have been absolutely superb.

“To perform consistently for eight months in a season is particularly hard, especially with the pressure of whether he’s going to be involved with England and at the World Cup.

“If only we could read Eddie Jones’ mind to find out if he had a future with England or not - I’m sure Danny wishes he could.

“I suspect he’s having conversations with him, and I would guess Eddie’s not burning any bridges - why would you?

“Purely on rugby ability, I think Danny walks in. With him he just brings something where you don’t know what’s going to happen.

“You get the impression that Eddie likes to play in a certain way, there’s a pattern and a style and if you step outside of that you might mess it up which Danny maybe has the potential to do.”

In his first campaign at Kingsholm, Cipriani recorded three tries and a league-high 14 assists as he helped the Cherry and Whites reach the semifinals, where they were eliminated by champions Saracens 44-19.

Although the former England centre does not believe Cipriani will start over co-captain and Jones-favourite Owen Farrell, he sees him as the perfect man to win a tight game for England in the final quarter if a game has got stodgy.

Guscott said: “His influence has been huge at Gloucester and he will have brought a new flavour, a different voice and a new way of playing.

“Most of us think that Owen Farrell is the best fly-half in the country, so the number two is between Danny and George Ford.

“I don’t think there’s any harm bringing someone like Danny into the team with 20 minutes to go, just to change things up.”

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