Paul Ackford’s so wrong storms angry Danny Cipriani

Danny Cipriani reckons new England boss Eddie Jones must ignore the advice of former Red Rose lock Paul Ackford and look to Sale when picking his Six Nations squad.
Ackford infuriated Sharks boss Steve Diamond recently by suggesting in his Times newspaper column that Northern clubs were “not worth bothering with” and that Jones should instead concentrate his talent search around sides like Bath, Harlequins, Exeter and Leicester.
Diamond dismissed Ackford’s views as “drive”’ and Cipriani agrees, telling The Rugby Paper: “It shows the ignorance of the man and he should take time to watch what goes on.
“He probably looks at it from the point of view that whoever spends more money and is at the top of the table must have the best players, but that isn’t always right.
“I’ve no idea how close any of our lads might be to England because there’s a new coaching regime in place under Eddie Jones and everything’s very open, but we’ve got good youngsters here in guys like Josh Beaumont, Mike Haley, Sam James and Tommy Taylor.
“Because we’re not a club blessed with money you’ve got to play youngsters early and Sale’s a good place in that respect. You get a lot of youth and energy and there are a lot people here aspiring to better things, whether that’s pushing for your country or whatever.
“With Eddie in charge it’s a clean slate for everyone and if you play well you’ll put your hand up, simple as that. I hope he comes up and has a good look and it’s important for guys like Josh, Mike, Sam and Tommy to rip in and keep showing what they can do.”
For his part, the sumptuously-skilled Cipriani insists he is over the disappointment of missing out on World Cup selection and is fully focused on challenging George Ford and Owen Farrell for a Six Nations spot and a place on June’s three-Test tour of Australia.
The 14-times capped 28-year-old explained: “I was over the World Cup situation pretty quickly because I felt I’d done everything I could. Obviously I wasn’t happy with the decision, but I wasn’t picking the team and it’s the one thing I couldn’t control.
“I felt like I trained really well and any time I was put on the field, even if I was played out of position, I felt   I contributed massively to the team. I received a lot of positive feedback from that, which was encouraging.
“I enjoyed the summer, enjoyed the slog and the grind of it all, and it just makes me want to put on that England shirt even more. I’m going to give it my best shot.
“Eddie Jones has been around the world and coached a lot of teams and it’s going to be down to who plays well. Hopefully, he won’t listen to Paul Ackford and he’ll make his own judgment on how players are playing individually and within their team.
“He’ll do his due diligence and he’s not the type of guy to go into this lightly. I had a chat with him back in 2007-08, when he was coaching Saracens and I was at Wasps, and the feedback I got then was that he was one of the hardest working men in rugby.
“He’ll study all the teams, speak to the directors of rugby and won’t leave a stone unturned. I won’t either and the Six Nations and summer tour are key for me.”
Cipriani also has aspirations of representing England Sevens in Rio, adding: “It’s certainly something I’m interested in.
“There’s a lot on my plate before that with Sale, the Six Nations and Australia, but I enjoy Sevens and feel like it could be a very exciting proposition. If there’s a chance of being available I’d like to give it a go.”
Cipriani, meanwhile, is determined to lead Sale into the upper echelons of the Premiership and has praised the work of Rugby League expert Paul Deacon, who joined the club as attack/skills coach this summer after a stellar career with Bradford Bulls and Wigan.
“Paul’s been very positive for us,” Cipriani said. “His analysis is spot on and at Sale we’re on a big change of mindset and culture where it’s all about getting better and not limiting players, whereas before we might have been a bit restricted. Paul’s brought that in and Steve Diamond has fully bought into it.
“We’re trying to up-skill everyone, not downplay people’s ability, and against every team we’ve played this season we’ve had more line-breaks and more attacking metres gained. It’s now about finishing things off and I’m trying to lead that as much as I can.”
Cipriani has joined other players like James Haskell and Freddie Burns in calling for a move towards summer rugby.
“If you played the majority of your rugby in decent weather I’ve no doubt we would have a better game,” he said.
“You only have to look at the rugby towards the end of the season to see that, because the games are brilliant in April and May and suddenly all these good players appear!”
NEALE HARVEY