Danny Cipriani may have spent more time on the bench than on the pitch during this year’s Six Nations but he could still force his way into England’s World Cup starting XV, according to Red Rose teammate Mike Brown.
The maverick fly-half only played 39 minutes during the tournament, appearing off the bench in various positions against Italy, Scotland and France.
It was in the Italy match where he showed touches of promise, scoring a try seconds after coming on – but Stuart Lancaster, much to the dismay of many, left the Sale playmaker watching from the sidelines when points were needed against Ireland in Dublin – a loss that would prove pivotal in the destination of the trophy.
The number 10 shirt instead very much belonged to Bath’s George Ford who finished as the leading points scorer with a nomination for the Player of the Tournament to boot.
But Brown, who played four of the five matches himself, missing only the Ireland clash due to concussion, praised Cipriani’s character, saying there is still time for him to put himself in the frame with head coach Stuart Lancaster facing somewhat of a selection headache with Owen Farrell and Stephen Myler also pushing their cases hard.
“Danny has obviously got a great running game, he’s highly skilful,” said Brown.
“Everyone’s still got a chance for the World Cup. Stuart has shown he will pick guys on form and guys who are developing and working hard and will reward people for doing the right things.
“Danny would probably have wanted a bit more game time. But he’s there. He’s good around the camp and he’s working really hard just like everyone else.
“He’s a character but he’s been great and everyone has enjoyed working with him. He is a confident chap but you need that when you are a 10.
“It’s great, you’ve got all these different individuals throughout the England camp, without them would be boring and you wouldn’t have a good team. Building a good team is having all these different characters.”
Despite the disappointment of narrowly missing out on the Six Nations title for the fourth successive year under Lancaster, Brown knows that it is time to re-focus minds six months from a home World Cup.
The Harlequins star is seen by many as the nailed-on choice at full-back, barring injury, especially after rival Alex Goode faltered under a deluge of high Irish kicks in Dublin, but Brown insists no one can take their place for granted.
“Stuart may have an idea in his head of the squad but that will just stay an idea until it comes down to when he has to pick,” he added.
“He rewards players for working hard and consistency and the level of performance they’ve shown. And he’ll continue to do that.
“I’m sure he’ll roughly have an idea of what his starting 15 would ideally be but I’m sure it will change a number of times before it comes down to crunch time and when he has to pick.
“It was massively disappointing to miss out on the Six Nations title and not achieve our goal.
“But we’ll keep going as a squad, keep using things like this to develop us. There are still positives to take out of it going into the World Cup.”
England Rugby Union player, Mike Brown was speaking on behalf of HSBC at the Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens where he helped run HSBC coaching clinics for schools during the tournament. For exclusive rugby content, follow @HSBC_Sport
