RP Interview with Danny Cipriani
Mercurial fly-half talks last season’s pain, repetitive England questions and Wasps’ silverware quest.
Wasps fly-half Danny Cipriani is convinced the hurt of last season will drive them on to silverware in 2018.
The club’s 2016/17 campaign promised so much but in the end fizzled out following an agonising extra-time defeat to the Exeter Chiefs at Twickenham in the Premiership final & a quarter-final defeat in Dublin against Leinster.
It’s now nine seasons without a trophy for Wasps, with their last Premiership title coming in 2007/08 and European gong in 2006/07.
There has been an undeniable period of rebuilding under Dai Young, but Cipriani says that rather than their trophy drought inhibiting them, it will drive them on.
“We’re growing as a group and with those types of big games, sometimes the scars of losing can teach you to go one better.
“You look at Saracens. They kept getting to finals and not quite getting over the line and now they can’t stop winning finals because they’ve been through those challenges and experiences together.
“It’s something you’ve got to keep learning from, as those experiences can only do you well in the future.
“This squad is very hungry to keep improving which is a real positive sign after experiencing the hurt of those defeats. That’s the main quality we’ve got as a group: we want to keep improving.”
Rugby is littered with success stories for those who have previously fallen at the final hurdle in excruciating fashion.
Saracens, Munster, Clermont, Exeter. Each of these sides experienced final heartbreak before glory and such a trend is not limited to them.
Failure certainly is not a prerequisite for success, but it certainly helps.
So far this season, Wasps are two from three in the league following a convincing home win against Sale on opening day, a scruffy away win at Worcester and a first home league defeat since December 2015 versus Quins.
The game at Sixways was ultimately decided by a typical piece of ingenuity from Cipriani late on, as he put in a sumptuous cross-field kick, which Josh Bassett gobbled up to put them out of reach.
Pieces of superb individual moments of skill have become almost synonymous with Cipriani at this stage, but how much of it is pre-planned and how much is off the cuff?
“I think what we practice on the training ground every week is important to get into the right positions,” he said. “You see we had our loosehead prop Matt Mullan going into the line and pulling the ball back to me and the boys are in the right place at the right time.
“It’s not so much magic but just good process and luckily it was executed well and Josh Bassett finished it.
“It’s definitely off the cuff but it’s still being able to be in the right position at the right time and being able to capitalise upon a slight chance.
“I know Josh from obviously working week-in week-out with him in training and he finishes those regularly, so it was nice to see him get one in the game.
“On paper, this is one of the most talented teams I’ve played in, especially in the backline and then for sure in the forward pack there’s a lot of talented guys that don’t get the credit.
“We are very blessed with a great squad and it’s a great opportunity to try to go and win the Premiership this season.”
Almost every interview the 29-year-old playmaker does these days comes out with the same headline: ‘Cipriani aiming for England recall’, and there is understandable frustration on his part. Nobody likes being asked the exact same question repeatedly.
Having made his England debut in 2008 at the age of 20, he has gone on to claim 14 caps but last donned the Red Rose in August 2015 and is yet to do so under Eddie Jones. He must miss it immensely?
“I think you miss ex-girlfriends when they go but that’s life isn’t it? Not much you can do about it,” Cipriani responds quick-wittedly.
“Right now I’m going to do the best I can for Wasps, but every interview or person I talk to wants to veer along the side of getting back into the England team.
“But every English player wants to play England. That is what you want to do, it is the pinnacle of where you want to be at.
“If I’m not getting picked, okay, but the last time I played for England I got man of the match after 17 minutes so I was pretty happy with that.
“It’s been the case for how ever many years for every squad announcement, people have got to write what they’ve got to write.
“Rugby’s a very unique sport. You see a lot of people talk a lot of nonsense and you see a lot of people talk a lot of sense, but you’ve just got to get on with it and move forward.
“If I can implement the things that I need to do then great, England is definitely something that’s on my mind, but it’s a massive project at Wasps and I’m really trying to spearhead and lead that this season and hopefully we can go one better than last year.”
In this year’s European Cup, Wasps have been drawn alongside Ulster, La Rochelle and Harlequins. A difficult group no doubt, but then there really are no easy pools anymore.
The first of those comes in Belfast against Ulster on October 13, while their first home game is against Premiership rivals Quins a week later.
“I think you look at our European group and how strong it is, you’ve got players and squads who on their day can all produce fantastic performances, so we’ve got to make sure we stick to the process and do our things right.
“We’ve got four or five weeks until the first European game and we’ve got to keep learning and growing as a squad.
“Dai (Young) is a very strong leader, a very strong managerial tactician. He knows the squad very well. He’s been there quite a while and he’s looked after the squad when things weren’t going great.
“He’s stuck with them and brought them out of that hole now and for the last three or four years they’ve had a very strong squad, and he’s really challenging us to push ourselves to go one better.”
One thing most noticeable talking to Cipriani, is the steely determination in him to win something this season and one suspects Wasps will be there or thereabouts again.
They are hurting, and hurt often breeds winners.
Cipriani was speaking at BGC Partners Charity day held to remember the friends and colleagues who died in the 9/11 attacks.
Comments on RugbyPass
Great analysis Brett and what a shame that RA haven't spent more on the tight five instead. BTW I see the latest 8-9 Combo has dropped, looking forward to that. It's incredible the amount of damage that Hamish and Eddie's egos did in such a short space of time. From memory Eddie drove the initial drive to poach league stars way back in the 00s, with community rugby paying the price in reduced funding. Australia went from 15% of its income being spent on community rugby in 2002 to 2.4% in 2015, sheer madness and look where they are now. Hamish reminds me of Scrappy Doo. Always mouthing off, spoiling for a fight with bigger dogs who'd eat him alive. Sadly RA didn't have a Scooby Doo to bail him out.
9 Go to comments*_“I love watching bone-shuddering tackles, brutal clear-outs, monster ball carries, and crushingly intense scrummaging. I love it. These things make my heart rate spike. These aren’t the only things I love about rugby, but I feel no need to pretend I don’t love them, or to apologise for loving them just in case someone thinks I shouldn’t.”_* beautifully put Flats🔥
3 Go to comments“Hidden comments” all over the place😂 Turlough’s been a busy little boy ey🤭
74 Go to commentsit’ll all be released in an autobiography a few years from now….. “Razor shafted me” blah blah blah. thinking of making Scott Barrett captain might be a good move. Could calm down his brain fades & make him an even better player for them
3 Go to commentsSadly he played far too many games too young. England and France really do need to look after their younger players better.
1 Go to commentsHaving finally been able to watch the first Chasing the Sun (thanks RugbyPass!) - because I refuse to pay DSTV's extortionate monthly fee in SA - after four years, it was amazing to see Mapimpi's story as well as seeing my personal hero, Rassie, breaking down when telling it. There _is_ hope for the country, but only once we've got rid of the crooked and incompetent ANC (and others) who have set out to destroy it. Viva Rassie, viva Kolisi viva rugby!
1 Go to commentsWhether true or not, all the best to you Sam Cane. A warrior of a player and a loyal servant to the ABs! Go get you some yen and have some fun.
3 Go to commentsThe game was changing too much with teams trying to role the dice drawing fouls. Would be better if scrums and the adjudicating problems were resolved but this is a good immediate fix.
37 Go to commentsLike many here I am encouraged by this post. Our forwards are where the real rewards and improvements must come from. With a 50/50 pack against any opposition, our backs could ensure more than 50% of the games will be won. We need Valetini at 6 and Cale at 8 to make the most or a good tight 5, McWright will add to the effectiveness of the pack BUT must get a very good tight 5 out there first.
115 Go to commentsThe key point I think that is missing is that if Joseph wants to guarantee a Lions spot, he really has to play wing in his first year. He is easily going to nail down whatever he wants to do, but with just half a season, how much of a factor he proves to be in the Lions series could be dictated by this initial choice of playing position.
9 Go to commentsthe game was 2 weeks before the challenge cup final. I really don’t believe they needed to rest that many players.
1 Go to commentsI really feel like neither of the Vunipolas is given the respect they deserve. I would have liked to see both of them get a few more caps than they have gotten in the past couple of years, but unfortunately the fact that they both peaked young has meant that for a number of years they have been perceived as disappointments. When they are both retired, in the cold light of day they will be recognised as two of the best players of their generation of any nation.
3 Go to commentsthis generation of saracens players could produce some really incredible coaches. When Farrell retires he could walk into any premiership team as a defence, attack, or kicking coach. Itoje could make it as a defence or a lineout coach, and Jamie George as a lineout or scrum coach. The problem the Vunipolas are going to have is that its not clear what their coaching speciality would be. Neither are great in the set piece, and while they were good in attack and defence, they were never tactical masterminds. Perhaps contact skills would be their ideal brief? Mako perhaps could work in strength & conditioning, but Billy has a bit of a reputation for not taking that side of the game seriously.
3 Go to commentsA very good player.We are finally getting some balance in our team. Plummer..Heem ..Lam a solid..experienced combo who take the sensible options consistently. Clarke was a grt impact of the bench option until Lam moved to 13 to replace an injured Reiko. Cotter is doing a grt job building his team. .
1 Go to commentsSaturday was last straw. Terrible record in Premiership since Jan 23. Capitulation against Bath at home. There are 3 conclusions. Players aren't good enough. Coaching team aren't good enough or combination of both.
2 Go to commentsAs you say in your article Brett, the point was Hamish and his vanity - plain and simple. The crazy bit is that sua’ali’i has to be probably twice the player of mark N, no easy feat, just for RA to get their money's worth!?! And as you say, tahs aren't short of wingers, props on the other hand id like to see $1.6m spent on. I still shake my head at the absolute carry on in the media and comments section around the boon of getting sua’ali’i and the revenue it'd generate. It was all such hogwash imo and short sighted, real sugar hit stuff. And wasnt Waugh (and others) on the board at the time this money was spent? You say silver bullet, I'd say sugar hit but without the flavour.
9 Go to commentsNZR should play hard all a bit with some of these players and make them sign up to the next world cup. If they won’t, offer it to someone who will. Because what happens is the NH (especially France) swoop on a bunch of nz players coming off contract, weakening their depth, and nz scrambles less than 2 years out trying to get replacements up to speed.
1 Go to commentsNo thanks. Savea almost always leaves easy points out there and goes for the corner, no matter how many times it’s not working. He claimed he took “the learnings” from this when he kept making the same mistake against the Boks a few years ago. Then went out the very next week and did the same thing and SA snatched victory because of it. Years later he still does it, right up to and including the world cup final. Great player, not so great rugby nous.
10 Go to commentsIt certainly wasn't a rhetorical masterpiece coming from big E …. (just as a side remark: Eben is the better player, Siya by far the better talker - maybe that's why they don't seem to like each other very much) …. but could we please move on?
74 Go to commentsMan who wasn't there and hasn't held a conversation with those who were present weighs in on dead rubber debate and is presented as representative of the Irish Rugby Union’s spokesperson on subject he has no apparent knowledge of whatsoever.
74 Go to comments