Danny Cipriani
February 12, 2010 by Will Carling Comments (9)
danny cipriani
OK, loads of people have asked why I did not go ahead and manage Danny Cipriani, so here is my explanation.
I first really spent time with Danny when he was in 'hosting' our facility at Twickenham for the Autumn Tests, along with many other players and ex-players. During the matches, we all sit around a few tables with some good wine and beer and watch the games. Zinny and I spent quite a bit of time chatting to him and getting a picture of where he was and what he wanted.
To be fair to him he is very different from the person depicted by the media, no surprise there then, and struck both Zinny and I as a young guy who was lost and lacked any guidance. Many of the 'older guys' in the facility said that I should 'manage' him - and I am being honest here when I say it is something that has never appealed to me at all before this time.
So I started doing some research, and called the likes of Sean Edwards, Josh Lewsey, Matt Dawson to get some background on the guy, and everyone admitted that the guy has a great talent. There were also plenty of references to his attitude, and to his ability to alienate team mates, which I took on board.
I went and had a long lunch with him and the reason that the whole concept appealed to me was that I believed here was a guy with a special talent, who desperately wanted to play for England, and maybe I could help him work things through with Wasps and England, as I know the key personal in both camps.
I have had a couple of very positive chats with Martin Johnson and at no time has he 'warned' me off, or told me that Danny was a 'lost' cause as speculation has concluded.
I have spent the last six weeks trying to focus Danny and without laying the blame at anyone's door, the main reason that I have decided not to go ahead is that I do not believe that Danny's focus is on playing for England. That and that alone was my main motivation for getting involved with him, it is not about money and certainly not about profile, it was about helping him earn the England number ten shirt. And rightly or wrongly I have concluded that his desire to 'earn' that shirt is not as strong as I want it to be and as strong as it needs to be.
So my decision is easy really. I think he is a good guy under all the media garbage, and he has a special talent. I sincerely hope that it is not a talent that is never fulfilled in an England shirt, but I worry that might be the case, and I just hope that sometime soon Danny focuses on England and the hard work that will be necessary to earn his place in the team
