Nick Cain: Danny Cipriani is a risk, but he could unlock golden door

Who holds the keys to No.10 for England? There is no shortage of contenders to pilot them through the 2015 World Cup passage, with Owen Farrell the man in possession, and Toby Flood and Freddie Burns joining him in the elite squad. Further down the pecking order in the Saxons are George Ford and Stephen Myler, while those hoping for the call when head coach Stuart Lancaster names his reshaped Six Nations squad on January 9 include Danny Cipriani and Exeter’s world champion U20 fly-half, Henry Slade.
Lancaster’s most urgent challenge is to decide which of them has the skills and experience to keep England’s World Cup challenge buoyant. However, the answer is proving elusive – and it has done ever since prolonged injury forced Jonny Wilkinson onto the international sidelines, consigning him to part-time service from 2005 to 2011.
Ironically, if you are picking on form alone, Wilkinson’s remarkable rejuvenation at Toulon over the past three seasons would put him in pole position.
When Toulon met Saracens in the Twickenham semi-final en route to winning the Heineken Cup last season Wilkinson won his fly-half head-to-head with Farrell decisively.
Wilkinson has been similarly effective for Toulon in recent weeks but, unfortunately, at 34, and having to nurse his body through the rigours of the Top 14, he is no longer an option. Rightly, he has passed on the baton.
However, the reality is that none of the younger No.10s who have followed Wilkinson have been able to pick it up, and the lack of a world-class fly-half has been a recurrent England shortcoming. Consequently, against top opposition the English backline attack has been blunt.
The stark truth is that with less than two years now until the start of the 2015 World Cup it is a failing that requires a remedy that is becoming more urgent by the day.
Farrell has his critics, former international fly-halves among them, who are doubtful that England will develop an attacking game with multiple threats as long as he remains Lancaster’s first choice.
While they acknowledge Farrell’s potency as one of the best goal kickers in the world, and one of the best defensive fly-halves, their argument is that his attacking portfolio is too limited. The criticisms that he stands too deep and lacks the acceleration and elusiveness, as well as confidence in his handling ability, to become a world-class playmaker, has been well aired.
This appears harsh because at 22, and with 19 England caps to his name, Farrell is still in his infancy as a Test fly-half. Yet, although he has made prodigious strides in goal-kicking and defence, he also plays in a style that indicates England’s attack will remain restricted, with the main weapon a bludgeoning pack relying on him to give them good field position.
Some will point out that Farrell showed a wider range of skills when Saracens dismantled Leicester last weekend, but, so far, he has not brought them at international level.
Playing for England is always about jam today rather than tomorrow – and never more so than with a World Cup on home soil to be won. England should not be a nursery for fly-halves, or for aspiring players in any other position. The learning curve should have come at club, Saxons or England U20 level, and those competing for England shirts should be fully forged blades.
Farrell is not as accomplished as a tactician, or as a playmaker, or in running a backline, as George Ford. This was recognised when they played together in the 2011 England U20 side that reached the Junior World Championship final, with Ford at fly-half and Farrell at inside-centre.
Since then their different career paths have seen Farrell forge ahead, and he has stayed ahead of Ford, who was voted the IRB Young Player of the Year in 2011, largely due to his superior goal-kicking and defence. However, since his move to Bath this season, Ford has reasserted his playmaking credentials, and Lancaster has to decide which route he wants England to travel.
It is back to the Rob Andrew v Stuart Barnes debate which preoccupied England fans from the mid 1980s to mid 1990s: Go expansive with Ford, or go route one with Farrell.
As things stand, Farrell’s goal-kicking underpins his place in the England team, and the recent confirmation that the 60-cap Flood is leaving Leicester for France next season makes him even more secure.
Lancaster is almost duty-bound not to select an imminent French exile like Flood, and it is this that makes the January reshuffle so intriguing. If form is the yardstick then Ford should replace Flood, and Burns, who unwisely has allowed himself to become distracted by transfer talks, should drop down to the Saxons and be replaced by   Cipriani or Myler.
I would take a gamble and give Cipriani, one last chance by putting him back in the elite squad. Cipriani’s transformation this season with Sale has been a joy, mainly because it looks as if he now has a desire to make the most of the rugby talent he has been blessed with.
The signs are he has become a team player at Sale, and has demonstrated it by fixing the tackling flaws that were undermining his credibility. His distribution and ability to find gaps makes him the closest thing England have to Quade Cooper, and his goal-kicking has also been top notch. It means Cipriani covers bases that neither Farrell nor Ford can stretch to at the moment.
Lancaster does not have time on his side. Cipriani is a risk, but if he pays off the England head coach could find himself with the player he needs to give him an attacking spark as well as a top percentage goal-kicker.