Danny Cipriani prepared for late World Cup call if England need their own Stephen Donald in Japan

Simon Collings @sr_collings12 September 2019

Danny Cipriani says Eddie Jones has told him to keep himself ready for the World Cup in case he needs to be England’s Stephen Donald.

Gloucester fly-half Cipriani was named in England’s training squad at the start of the summer but he failed to make the final 31-man group who flew to Japan on Sunday.

However, speaking on Wednesday, Cipriani revealed how Jones has told him and the rest of those who missed out to be ready in case they are called up because of injuries.

When England announced their World Cup squad last month, Jones confirmed how Piers Francis was his third choice fly-half but that he could draft another No10 into the squad if either George Ford or Owen Farrell got injured.

When speaking to Cipriani and those who missed out, Jones reminded them of what happened to New Zealand fly-half Donald at the 2011 World Cup.

In Pictures | England's Rugby World Cup squad | 12/08/2019

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Donald, 35, was on a fishing holiday when the tournament started but cut his vacation short to join up as an injury replacement and he went on to kick the winning penalty in the final against France.

Cipriani said: “Eddie hasn’t said it directly [that I am the next pick] but he has just said: ‘Be ready’.”

“I am sure he has said it to Browny [Mike Brown] and a few others. He is very diligent in that sort of way.

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Sept 22 England vs Tonga Sapporo 11.15am
Sept 26 England vs USA Kobe 11.45am
Oct 5 England vs Argentina Tokyo 9am
Oct 12 England vs France Yokohama 9.15am

“He had a big conversation with 10 or 12 of us, saying to be ready. He cited the Donald story several times, so people were aware of it.

“A good coach going into a competition would want to do that and have some motivation in a sense for those players. The stat is four to six players in every World Cup change in a squad.”

Cipriani’s World Cup axe came after he enjoyed a brilliant campaign with Gloucester in the Premiership last season. The 31-year-old was crowned Premiership Player of the Season and the Rugby Players Association’s Player of the Season, becoming only the second player to scoop both awards in one season.

However, after being called up by England this summer, the fly-half spent just two weeks in camp before being sent away from the squad to do specialised conditioning.

Cipriani was subsequently omitted from the squad who flew to Treviso for warm-up weather training in July but he holds no grudge against Jones.

In Pictures | 2019 Rugby World Cup venues

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“What is a fair crack of the whip? I can’t go in there demanding any time,” said Cipriani.

“It is just characters and it is just different people. Eddie is in a high-pressure situation and he has done a great job.

“He has put his faith in Ford and Faz [Owen Farrell] and they have done well for him. Going into a big competition I would have had to turn water into wine to sway him. It would have been very difficult to do so.

“I completely understand his decision. Do I think it was the right one? I don’t know. I am going to support England and hope they go great.”

Missing out on the chance to go to a World Cup can be tough for players to take — with hooker Dylan Hartley admitting yesterday he has had sleepless nights about his omission - but Cipriani says he has faced greater challenges.

“Worse things have happened in my life,” he added. “That is not a test of my mental toughness — at least I hope it is not. The test of mental toughness is the monotonous side of what rugby is.

“That was more the difficulty for me. Putting everything into the season, the last four years, the last seven years, and then you have just four or five weeks off again and by the time I have had my dinner we are already a week in.”

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