Sale Sharks director of rugby Steve Diamond believes the current England set up are missing a trick in not having a resurgent Danny Cipriani pulling the strings behind a dominant pack.
England suffered a fifth straight defeat at the hands of the world champion All Blacks on Saturday, going down 24-21 at Twickenham as once again the Red Rose fell just short against the world’s number one side.
And Diamond is adamant the man to end this miserable run was left on the sidelines by Stuart Lancaster this autumn.
Lancaster’s men were comprehensively outplayed in parts by New Zealand at Twickenham, but the set piece was exempt from any criticism – the England-pack even winning a penalty try in the dying minutes at scrum-time under the All Blacks’ posts.
And Diamond insists that Sale fly-half and former Whitgift School pupil Cipriani would flourish behind such a dominant pack, the Sharks director of rugby going as far to say that it would have been a different outcome on Saturday had the 27-year-old been involved.
“I think Danny’s invention would add to the squad,” said Diamond. “Danny, behind a dominant pack, is a very, very good player at the highest level and I think he would have been able to capitalise on some of those opportunities [against New Zealand].
“His consistency has come through the last two years. He is an 80 per cent plus goal kicker but it is his ball in play that is really impressive.
“With the amount of ball in play England are getting with that monstrous pack of forwards they have got he can set a back line on fire.”
Cipriani returned from England exile this summer in New Zealand, impressing off the bench in the first Test and from the start in their midweek victory over the Crusaders.
But Owen Farrell remains the man in possession of the No.10 shirt with George Ford and Stephen Myler the understudies for this autumn’s clashes.
And while Cipriani is now back under consideration, Diamond has his fingers crossed that his fly-half will soon be climbing the pecking order.
“The selection of England is pretty consistent,” added Diamond.
“Stuart Lancaster and his coaches don’t bring many new players in and when they do they give them a good run.
“So what Danny has done is he has fought his way back from nowhere, coming back from Australia, and he is now obviously third or fourth choice in the country in their eyes.
“He has just got to keep plugging away and hopefully the rewards will come.”
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Main image courtesy of BT Sport via YouTube, with thanks.
