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Daniel Cipriani

Personal information
Full name	Daniel Jerome Cipriani
Date of birth	November 2, 1987 (1987-11-02) (age 22)
Place of birth	Roehampton, London, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	14 st 2 lb (90 kg)
Nickname	Cips
School	Tudhoe Donhead The Oratory School Whitgift School
Rugby union career
Current status
Position(s)	Fly-half / Fullback
current team	London Wasps
Playing career
Position	Fly-half
Youth clubs
Rosslyn Park
Clubs played for
Years	Club / team	Caps	Points
Professional / senior clubs
2004 ‐	London Wasps	33	(214)
National team(s)
2004 ‐ 06 2007 ‐ 2008 ‐	England U-16 England U-19 England Saxons England	7	(49)

Daniel Jerome Cipriani (born 2 November 1987) is a rugby union footballer who plays fly-half, centre and fullback for London Wasps and England.

Biography

Cipriani's father, Jay, and his mother, Anne, separated soon after his birth. Although Jay returned to Trinidad and Tobago, Cipriani was able to remain in contact with him.^[1] To afford him a better life, his mother learnt The Knowledge to be able to drive a London Taxi, and was able to afford to send him to the Wimbledon College Prep school, Donhead.^[2]

Spotted as a Rugby talent at Donhead, he was offered a scholarship and advised to move to the Junior House of The Oratory School near Reading to continue his development,^[1] and later moved to Whitgift School in Croydon after Common Entrance. A keen all-round sportsman, Cipriani played junior football for Queens Park Rangers, and was offered youth terms by Reading. He also played schoolboy cricket for Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Invited to join Surrey County Cricket Club as a batsman,^[1] he played club rugby for the first time at Rosslyn Park in Roehampton where he developed his passion for the game.

He appeared on My Super Sweet 16 UK for MTV as a potential escort for one of the birthday girls, but didn't get picked. However, his team mate Dominic Waldouck was invited to the birthday party as a topless model. He was not mentioned by name but was seen in various shots.^[3][4].

In November 2007 he was reported as dating Monica Irimia of The Cheeky Girls fame^[5]. ^[6][7] He started dating model & presenter Kelly Brook in September 2008.^[8]

Club career

After Alex King left Wasps in the summer of 2007, the fly-half position at the club became vacant, and, after playing in a series of positions for Wasps in the early games of the 2007/08 season, he played 2 games in a row at fly-half, against Gloucester and Munster, London Wasps winning both, not only due to their prowess but also due to Cipriani.

He has played in most of London Wasps' matches in the first half of the season at fly-half. His mixture of good kicking and pace has got him praise from many sources.

He is quicker over 69 metres than Paul Sackey and this story was confirmed by their sprinting coach.^[9] Cipriani confirmed this on the Rugby Club and also showed his pace in the EDF Energy Cup final by out pacing speedy Leicester Tigers wing Tom Varndell.

On 6 October 2008 Cipriani was involved in a bust-up with club and international team-mate Josh Lewsey in a training ground fight.^[10] Cipriani was left nursing a bloody nose and cut lip following the incident at Wasps’ training ground. The spat started after Lewsey accused Cipriani of missing several tackles during a full-contact session.^[11]

International career

Cipriani played fly-half for the U19 England side in the U19 world cup, but was unable to complete the tournament due to a head injury. He initially played in the London Wasps U21 and 'A' sides but in 2007 he became a more regular first team player.

He just missed out on selection for the 2007 Rugby World Cup for England after spending the summer in their training camp.

He was called up to the England squad for the 2008 Six Nations Championship. Many experts were calling for Cipriani to be picked at full-back to ease him into the international arena, a position he played successfully with London Wasps upon breaking into the first team.^[12][13] He had already been selected for the England Saxons and the training squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.^[14] His starting début for England was due to be realised when he was picked at full-back for the game, against Scotland on 8 March 2008.^[15] However, two days before Cipriani was to make his full England début, he was axed from the squad due to "inappropriate behaviour", believed to relate to a late night visit to a London nightclub.^[16] He started against Ireland on 15 March 2008, which England won 33-10, replacing Jonny Wilkinson at fly-half. He had a particularly successful match, converting all of his goal kicks and controlling the game well.^[17] After the match, he praised the forwards for making life easy for him as a no. 10, although managed to swear during the BBC interview while doing so.^[18] Cipriani was named in the England Saxons squad on 1 July 2008. On his return to England he scored 19 points including a try.

Injury

Cipriani playing for Wasps against Bristol in 2009

On Sunday 18 May 2008, Cipriani suffered a serious injury during Wasps' semi-final play-off victory over Bath. Cipriani was tackled by Olly Barkley and got trapped at the bottom of a ruck in the 49th minute at Adams Park.^[19] His ankle was severely disfigured.

He needed oxygen on the pitch before being taken to hospital,^[20] where he underwent surgery on his ankle. He was ruled out of England's tour of New Zealand after Wasps confirmed he will miss six months with a fracture dislocation of his right ankle.^[21]

Return from Injury

Cipriani made his return to the London Wasps 1st XV in a Premiership match against Bath on October 1, 2008.^[22] His recovery has been described as remarkable, given the severity of the injury, and because his return is 6 weeks to 2 months ahead of schedule.^[23] Sprint coach Margot Wells has been quoted as saying that due to Danny's superb attitude and hard work, he will return 'stronger in the tackle, fitter and faster than before'.^[24] Following an injury to Jonny Wilkinson, Cipriani regained the England number 10 shirt for the 2008 autumn internationals, only to be dropped following two indifferent displays in defeat to South Africa and Australia. Much has also been made of his high-profile relationship with model Kelly Brook and concerns have been raised by critics about whether he is fully committed to reaching the peaks they believe he can achieve. ^[25]

2009 season

Cipriani enjoyed a fruitful start to the 2009/2010 season with Wasps, only to injure himself in a match against Northampton Saints, a match in which he incidentally scored his first try of the season. This injury ruled him out of the Autumn Internationals for England - it would be two months before he made his comeback playing in a reserve-team game against Harlequins on 7 December, playing for 40 minutes.^[26]

Future

On the 19 February Wasps announced that Cipriani would be joining the new Australian Super 15 franchise, the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the season. Cipriani has acknowledged that his England career will be on hold whilst he plays in the southern hemisphere.^[27]

References

External links

• Official Danny Cipriani site
• Wasps profile
• England profile
• England new boys - Danny Cipriani