Danny Cipriani axed by Eddie Jones: Fly-half omitted from England squad

Danny Cipriani has been handed a public snub by Eddie Jones just a year out from the World Cup after England’s head coach left him out of his training squad for the autumn internationals.

With George Ford and Owen Farrell very much to the fore, and Jones hinting that Farrell’s push for the No 10 shirt, has taken on ever greater prominence, Cipriani’s omission served as a pointed reminder of his place in the pecking order of fly-halves in the England set-up.

“He is probably third or fourth choice,” said Jones. If this is a hurry-up for the 30-year-old, then it is of Usain Bolt proportions.

It is certainly a call that ignited many reactions, from bafflement to anger. Brian O’Driscoll was among many observers who were incredulous that the Gloucester No 10 has not made the cut for a 36-man group that will meet in Bristol on Sunday night for a three-day camp, the former Lions and Ireland captain tweeting that the decision “beggared belief.. if you are to believe that it is based on form”.

Jones insists that his decision has “100 per cent” been shaped by playing considerations and has nothing to do with the fact that Cipriani was arrested at a Jersey nightclub in August and subsequently charged with common assault and resisting arrest, and fined £2,000. Whatever the true reasoning behind Cipriani’s non-selection, this omission has increased the punishment a hundred fold.

Even if Jones is adamant that the selection door remains open, this is a significant setback for Cipriani given that he started England’s last match, the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town, their first win in six international games.

Above all, it is a sobering realisation for the 30-year-old that a Jones cupboard does not tend to stock fatted calves, no matter what claim a Prodigal Son might have on such nourishment.

There was a hint of Jones’ thinking a fortnight ago in Newcastle when the head coach noted that ‘‘if a guy gets in trouble all the time, you’ve got to have second thoughts about it”.

Jones insisted yesterday that his warning shot about errant behaviour referred to a World Cup or tournament situation. 

Selection is always an amalgam of criteria, part historical form, part trust, part goodwill in the bank, part Premiership form and part gut instinct. Cipriani has always attracted headlines, due in part to his celebrity lifestyle but also because he was, and remains, a rich talent, capable of innovative and daring things. Flashbulbs tend to pop around him, not just because of the squeeze on his arm but also because of his audacious passing on the gain line, as evidenced in his very first match for his new club this season against Northampton Saints.

Cipriani is the only player in the Premiership to have registered a try assist in each of the first three games. But can he defend? 

That was put to Jones who demurred at the question, indicating that the conversation he had with Cipriani on Wednesday, one of 30 telephone calls the head coach made to players such as back-row forwards, Sam Simmonds of Exeter and Bath’s Sam Underhill, or Leicester prop, Dan Cole, explaining his reasoning for not picking them, was “confidential”. 

A source close to Cipriani said that the player is determined to work hard in an effort to force his way back into Jones’ plans. Jones made several interesting inter-linked observations. 

One is that Ford is often regarded as the “Invisible Man” in this debate, doing good things that go unremarked on while “one other player throws one pass and he is Superman”.

“George is back to doing what he is good at, taking the ball square and flat, attacking the line, looking for opportunities,” said Jones.

The other concerned the amount of time he has at his disposal. Jones will only have 70 minutes of actual practice time on the field in Bristol, with recovery from games and a day for commercial activities impacting on proceedings. In the Test week itself, all those not needed for match-day have to return to their clubs on a Tuesday evening.

“It is pretty hard to get three No 10s into 25 players,” said Jones, who may well apply the same logic to a 31-man World Cup squad, relying on the versatility factor of a Henry Slade or Alex Lozowski, to cover.

Chris Ashton is in favour even though the Sale Sharks wing has yet to play a first-class game for his new club as he sits out a seven-week ban for a tip-tackle in a pre-season friendly.

“Selection is a judgment and my judgment is that Ashton is going to be important for us in November,” Jones said. “I see a desperation in him to play for England that I hadn’t seen before.”

Leicester’s Manu Tuilagi is also in the mix even if, a la Cipriani, the Leicester centre is not unfamiliar with unseemly off-field incidents.

Sale’s Tom Curry is in the box seat for the No 7 shirt with newly-eligible Saracen, Michael Rhodes, one of several contenders on the blindside.