Cipriani

i thought it was going to be about his legs or something.

let's have another read.

I would put a lot of money on Danny being a starter, or in the England squad for next 6N. As a Fly half or an inside centre, with Farrell playing as the other 9 or 12
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right, firstly id disagree with that. he certainly wont play 12. he might move back to 15 but he is not a 12. he will have to perform consitntly welll for a long period to get back at whatever position. it would be a miracle if he was back for 6 nations.

Danny has been playing some very very impressive rugby for Melbourne.
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been hearing mixed things about that.

The flair of the super 15 has also only improved his game which will be a major benefit for Sale.

However I feel there do come with some drawbacks with his joining.

Wherever he goes, trouble may follow, which is a shame because he did have a bit of an attitude when he was younger.
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he was a flair player anyway. i thought the atitude only showed up after he broke his leg. wasps seemed to have him under control before that.


i hope he comes back and becomes a superstar. i suspect he wont though. i think his injury did for him.

only time will tell.

Any decent coach will give him a wide birth in the short term. Let him go back to an AP team, settle in and loose the media monkey on his back.

There is more to this than meets the eye.

If/When he makes a return, he will have the reporters in his face. Dragging up the past, setting up mental barricades for the future. Such is the aggressiveness of the British media e.g. any Sky reporter, they will not only ask him about playing for England but they will use provocative language like,
'given the way it all went wrong for you last time, do you believe you can make it into the England team again?'
HIM: Yes thats my goal, and my dream (or something like that)
reporter: 'do you think the media spotlight burning a hole in your neck will affect your performances?'
HIM: 'you have to be able to handle it if you are a pro'
reporter: 'That said, you have had your problems in the passt...'

Blaa blaa blaa and such is the provocative line of questions in the the British media, that it makes it not only difficult to rise to the challenge of the game, but difficult to just walk down the street!

I don't think he has ever shown he can handle that, and now he has a target on his back, I doubt Lancaster will want that influence in his team.

After the 2003 World Cup England woke up to the problem that a) the game was professional and b) most of the current squad were a bit old and knackered.

As a result they started looking to produce new talent, and the first off the production line was Matthew Tait who was looking very good until he ran into Gavin Henson in 2005 (I think) and it all went downhill from there.

Next up was Danny Cipriani, possibly the most prodigiously talented player since Wilkinson, the only problem was he was a cross between Wilkinson & Danny Dyer, and the Dyer gene strain started to get the upper hand, it all went wrong and he went to Australia.

After a few other balls ups (Danny Care for example) the RFU realised Media (especially Murdoch media) = Bad. The players then became quieter, more boirng and better - Tuilagi, Farrell, Morgan, Barritt etc (with Chris Ashton's "soul" still in the balance)

Cipriani had the talent, whether he still does remains to be seen, his performances in Australia were not consistently good enough and it remains to be seen whether he withers away like Tait has done. The come back road is very tough and it will take a lot longer than 12 months - more like 2 - 4 years. If he wants fly half he has to get past Hodgson & Toby Flood, at least, before even facing Farrell, who I think is likely to get better still. If its fullback, which i don't think he likes, he has to get past Brown and Foden - again another very tough ask. In short he has to displace two players who will most likely be in the Lions squad and possibly even a Lions XV.

Can he do it? Yes - if he knuckles down at Sale, puts the past behind him and regains his fitness and skill. Will he? I don't think so, I think its just asking too much, his chance was before Flood, Farrell & Foden arrived on the seen and basically he blew it

Sorry - "arrived on the scene"

SARS

I think you have summed it up there just perfectly.
I don't want to create any ill feeling by saying this but Cipriani has not done anything meaningful for England in his short International career, he has always been a player who 'could' have been great but never was, and now hes a player who had a great chance but didn't take it. In short. He not really worth thinking about

I think he will SARS, I would actually put money on him doing well tbh. I also dont think his is in the same kettle of fish as Care who truly is a wasted talent!

Cipriani is the English Gavin Henson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFvRvSxsW-I

this might be a bit off topic, bu this one's for the miami vice fans in the house tonight :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JYUaBOw_GU

turn it up loud.

sorry chaps, ive been out in the sun all day

that nina simone simone remix is a blindin track but i have no idea why i posted it on here. oh well.

ok