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New arrival Danny Cipriani gets to work at the Bath training ground seven weeks after they confirmed his signing
By Josh Raisey
Bath have finally been able to unveil their much anticipated new signing Danny Cipriani at their Farleigh House training ground. The fly-half signed a one-year contract with the West Country outfit on March 25 covering the end of this season and it was always scheduled to start in mid-May.
Having been training in the interim weeks on his own, Bath have now shared a photo on social media this Wednesday of the 16-cap England international holding his new club’s shirt to confirm his arrival.
Cipriani has been out of the game for six months after abruptly ending his spell with Gloucester last December. During his time at Kingsholm, he was named the Rugby Players’ Association player of the year for 2019 after guiding the Cherry and Whites to that year's Gallagher Premiership semi-finals.
Bath have four more games left in the Premiership this season and although their chances of making the playoffs are virtually over as they are in seventh, 18 points adrift of fourth place Harlequins, they will want to secure qualification for the Heineken Champions Cup next season by finishing in the top eight.
Cipriani will be filling the void that will be left at Bath by Rhys Priestland next season, who is set to join Cardiff Blues after six years at The Rec. This will also be Cipriani’s fourth club in England and he enjoyed stints with Wasps and Sale Sharks before joining Gloucester.
“Bath have a clear ambition and drive that aligns with my own,” said the 33-year-old after his signing. “They want to achieve something special as a team, they want to win. That was a very appealing vision for me. I have been really focused over the past three months on improving my running efficiency and kicking while looking for a club that matches my ambition.
"It’s clear that Bath offers that opportunity. We talked about what I could bring to the club and what Bath were looking for in a fly-half – someone who could be part of an attacking mindset, who could help unlock that aspect of the game and inject additional pace and vision – complementing the quality in the team.”
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Latest Comments
Well deserved for a young talented, bright and humble player.
Go to commentsCane shouldn’t have been one last year, based purely on performances. Lakai is as close to a like for like of swap of Savea you’re ever likely to find, based on his short career so far at least. He has many of the same qualities - very strong ball carrier, great at the breakdown, and an absolute work horse on defence. I feel like he and Sititi could lead the way in the loose at the next WC.
I think we have become obsessed with replacing Kaino with someone exactly like him. Kaino was a perfect foil for the other loose forwards we had at the time. Based on the talent we have around at the moment those players could be made up in the aggregate by three players who are all exception all rounders - Lakai, Sititi, and Savea. Missing some height for sure but Sititi’s defensive work in the line out last year was phenomenal. He gets off the ground so quickly and was able to steal a couple of balls off the top of the springbok line out.
If our young locks coming through can actually stay fit long enough to get selected, it seems inevitable that Va’ai could end up in a hybrid 6/lock role.
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