England fans demand answers following Danny Cipriani's latest snub by Eddie Jones
Fans are demanding answers after Danny Cipriani was left out of the England squad for the 12-day warm-weather training camp in Treviso.
Prop Ben Moon has also been excluded, but Harlequins duo Mike Brown and Joe Marchant are travelling to Italy with the squad.
This is the second week in a row that the Gloucester fly-half has been omitted after doing specialised strength and conditioning work last week off-site with Bath’s Sam Underhill and Anthony Watson. This is despite being named in the official 38-man World Cup training squad at the beginning of July.
As it has so often been the case throughout Eddie Jones’ tenure - and throughout Cipriani’s career - fans are questioning why he has not been picked.
It is understandable if he was completely snubbed, but the fact that he was called up to the training squad - and has since been dismissed twice - has left fans scratching their heads.
While his fitness may have not been up to the standard that Jones desired last week, this latest decision by the Australian is all the more perplexing, and fans want to know why he has done this.
After England supporters had demanded a recall for Cipriani throughout the season, some feel that his selection was only a token gesture by Jones and that he was never going to make the World Cup.
If so, it would have been better if he were completely snubbed like Alex Goode, another player many fans wanted in the squad, rather than wasting his time.
Of course, there may be a good reason for Cipriani missing out the last two weeks, but it is the lack of clarity that some fans are finding strange. This is what has been said:
The 31-year-old made his return to the England squad last summer for the June series in South Africa, starting the third Test and guiding his team to victory.
Many thought that he would then become established in the England team, but an off-field incident in the summer once again made him an outcast, although Jones never admitted that was why he was not picked for the November internationals or the Six Nations.
However, after being named the RPA Players’ player of the season and the Premiership player of the season, calls for Cipriani to add to his 16 caps were hard to ignore. But some fans must feel in the same position they were last November with this latest exclusion.
Fans will still hope that the fly-half will get a chance to prove himself in at least one of those England’s fixtures before the World Cup. But for now, questions are being asked regarding Jones’ latest decision to overlook him.
WATCH: The latest RugbyPass documentary, Foden – Stateside, looks at how ex-England international Ben Foden is settling into Major League Rugby in New York
Latest Comments
So if this ain’t the best Irish team ever then who exactly is? I don’t remember any other Irish team being this good & winning a series in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Yes I may rip them often for 8 X QF RWC exits & twice not even making it to the QF, but they’re a damn good team who many think can only improve, including me!
Go to commentsNot a squeek out of Leinster for weeks about this match. So quiet. The first team have been quitely building for this encounter under Nienaber’s direction. All fresh, all highly motivated. They are expecting a season’s best performance from Northhampton. They will match that. They will be fresher and apparently they will have 80,000 out of the 83,000 shouting for them. I do expect Northhampton to turn up big time. Not to be missed. On a tangent it is evident how the loss of a few Premiership teams has in some respect helped other Premiership teams and England. More quality over less teams makes the teams better, which has a knock on effect on England. Not the only factor contributing to England’s rise but one of them.
Go to comments