Rugby: Cipriani off to join Rebels

Danny Cipriani. Photo / Getty Images

Danny Cipriani will wear the No 10 shirt for Wasps in tonight's (NZT) high-octane London derby with Saracens.

But not for much longer. Next season he will be in Australia for the first of two Super 15 campaigns with the new Melbourne Rebels set-up and earning well over £170,000 ($376,000) a year, plus add-ons from endorsements.

Overpaid, overhyped and over there, you might say.

There is no doubting Cipriani's potential: the talk of the coaching community long before he appeared in the public eye, he has delivered enough pitch-perfect performances to justify his reputation as the country's most gifted playmaker.

He has struck his share of bum notes, too. His struggle to nail down the No 10 jersey at Wasps gave England coach Martin Johnson reason not to pick him at international level.

The England hierarchy have been losing patience with the Cipriani fandango - not because they are exasperated by the media obsession with the 22-year-old Londoner's love life, although they are suspicious of its effect on his rugby, but because their relationship broke down well over a year ago.

Cipriani hinted at this yesterday when he said: "I have been given no indication that I am pushing for a place with England at the moment."

Equally, Johnson gave no indication that he gave so much as a tuppenny damn about Cipriani's plans when pressed.

In theory, Cipriani could spend early next year running rings round Dan Carter and Matt Giteau and then join England's training camp ahead of the World Cup.

In practice, Johnson is more likely to select an overweight has-been from the local pub than a man with a preference for self-exile.

For all that, he must understand that Cipriani's decision increases pressure on the England regime.

If Johnson's predecessor, Brian Ashton, had his run-ins with Cipriani - he sent Cipriani home from the national academy for disciplinary reasons and dropped him on the eve of a Calcutta Cup match - he also understood how to coax the best from him.

On the basis this is what coaches should do, this news is hardly a triumph of man-management.

- INDEPENDENT