Jeremy Guscott: Welcome back Danny Cipriani, you can be the boy again
It’s also great for a coach like Stuart Lancaster because he wants his best players to be at their best. It has been a bumpy ride for Cipriani on his journey from High Wycombe to Melbourne, and now Manchester. Up to now we’ve talked more about his off-field stuff than what we really wanted to talk about, which was how good he was on the pitch.
An additional bonus is that Cipriani has strong competition because England have a richness of talent at fly-half at the moment. Owen Farrell‘s advance in the last Six Nations was evident, because he was taking the ball flatter than ever before and utilising his options better. George Ford has been playing good rugby for Bath, Freddie Burns has made a solid start at Leicester, Stephen Myler is very consistent for Northampton, and Exeter‘s Henry Slade also looks to have a fine future.
The reality for Cipriani is that he has to produce the mesmeric passages that almost lifted Sale to victory at Kingsholm last weekend throughout the season – and, if he can, it will be irresistible to the England coaches simply because he brings a new dimension.
Cipriani has that ability to be the first line of attack, which is a rarity among fly-halves these days. He has that brilliance which lights up a game, and at the same time promotes Rugby Union. Players like him put bums on seats in stadiums, and also on stools in bars where people watch sport.
Cipriani’s performance against Gloucester was extremely heartening. Having an eye for the gap and the ability to exploit it yourself, or to put someone else through it, is priceless. So is that ability he has to think ahead, and to stay one move in front of the defence and keep them guessing.
His inclusion in England’s summer squad for the New Zealand tour has clearly buoyed his confidence – and when you have a confident Cipriani there are few players in the world who can produce that magic. In an era of defensive dominance and set plays of three phases, it’s great to have a player who can think on his feet and react instinctively.
It harder to attack than defend, and a No.10 like Cipriani opens up so many attacking avenues. We wondered whether his talent was intact after the ups and downs in his career, and now we have the answer that it’s definitely still there. Good players become great players when they understand what they can do, and how they can bring others into the game. What we saw against Gloucester is a glimpse of what he had in the past – but now he has to leave the past behind and project those gifts into the future.
Cipriani has to understand pressure, and learn to live with it. He knows he can do it, and now he has to have the mental strength to back himself.
Part of that is recognising that he won’t get the ball quickly all the time, and that he shouldn’t try to do too much. That means sometimes passing to stronger runners or kicking cleverly.
Players like Cipriani are instinctive, and at their best they ‘feel’ the game. The tough side for them is the mental side – but get that right and the rest falls into place. He’s probably the quickest English fly-half. He is genuinely fleet of foot, but also possesses speed of mind as well as body. Farrell has speed of thought but not of foot, while Ford is quick-thinking and has pretty good speed, and Burns likewise.
However, the big question for a fly-half is whether the players around them are reading and anticipating what they are doing – and then have the skillsets to make the most of it.
The main links for any fly-half are with his scrum-half and centres, and at their best they are telepathic. My view is that Chris Cusiter has one of the sharpest rugby minds in the game and that his arrival at Sale has given them a scrum-half who will be the catalyst for quick ball. After that, it is down to the two centres and blindside wing to read what Cipriani does.
When I played with Stuart Barnes at Bath I was invariably on his shoulder when he made a break because we tended to see what was on at the same time. However, what you see with some running fly-halves is that they make a break that the other backs have not read, or anticipated. Sometimes you’ll see Cipriani make a break and look around for support – and that’s because he’s ahead of the game. It’s about reading that and not leaving him isolated.
Teams have to re-programme themselves not to be too pre-planned. One of the big strengths of the All Blacks is that they are so well-conditioned to react, and that’s why they are masters of the counter-attack. They are always trying to create space, and mismatches do that.
So does Cipriani’s pace and footwork. Someone with special ability has come back on the scene, so let’s enjoy it.
*This article was first published in The Rugby Paper on September 21.
