Danny Cipriani: Will he be England’s World Cup wildcard?

Will he or won’t he? That has been the question on every England rugby fans’ lips over the past season regarding whether Eddie Jones will select the maverick Fly-Half for England’s World Cup squad.

Danny Cipriani has had one of his best seasons to date, leading Gloucester to their first play-offs in eight years in his first season at Kingsholm.

The 31-year-old has been at the heart of the cherry and whites surge to the top four, catching the eye with his flair in attack. His sensational miss pass to assist Charlie Sharples in the opening game of the season being a highlight.

This has led to the former Wasps man picking up the RPA Players’ Player of the Year at their end of season awards, as well as his infamous pass assist being shortlisted for the Citizen Try of the Season.

After claiming the top award, Cipriani made it clear that his England dream was still very much alive, saying:

“It’s just about action over the next couple of weeks,” said Cipriani.

“Eddie Jones is very diligent about how he speaks to everyone in the wider squad, and there is a group of us who met him over the last couple of weeks.

“So it’s just important for myself to finish the season as strong as I can to put myself in the best position to hopefully get involved in a training squad.”

The Gloucester number 10’s last England appearance was in the sides tour of South Africa in 2018 in the 3rd test which England won 25-10. Cipriani assisted their only try of the game with an opportunist cross field kick.

England were criticised for their inability to adapt to in-game situations during this year’s Six Nations. With Journalists and ex-players such as Alex Corbisiero saying England lacked a Plan B.

This was exceedingly obvious in their 21-13 loss to Wales where Owen Farrell looked to expose the space in behind the Welsh back-three, which had previously been a successful ploy in previous games.

However, Wales’ back-three were the best England had faced with the likes of Liam Williams, Josh Adams and George North seemingly experienced enough to diffuse Farrell’s bombs. England were unable to change their point of attack with Wales becoming comfortable they could combat whatever England threw at them.

Cipriani in himself would offer England a plan B, with his unpredictability in attack and natural flair making merely his presence with the ball-in-hand a worry for the defence, creating gaps and spaces for the men outside him. His attacking vision has also been clear to see this season with his ability to put a player through a gap with a inch perfect pass.

This would be particularly important during this years World Cup – with England looking to win the Webb Ellis cup. England need to have an answer to every potential question that will be asked of them in Japan.

Many people have thought it has been Cipriani’s past actions off the pitch that may have prevented Jones from selecting him. But since the pre-season Jersey incident, Cipriani has let his rugby do the talking. With many saying he couldn’t have possibly done much more in the regular season to stake his claim.

He will be hoping to add the Gallagher Premiership title to his portfolio after the play-offs to further pressure the Australian to select him.

Eddie Jones has made it clear over the past two seasons that the fly-half must be the best ten in the country this season to make the World Cup squad.

With Cipriani very much putting the ball back in Jones’ court after his high flying season, the question to Jones is, stick or twist?

Quotes sourced from the BBC.

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