Eddie Jones issues early warning to Danny Cipriani to fall in line or fall straight back out of the England squad

Eddie Jones sent an early warning to Danny Cipriani after recalling him to his England squad for the tour of South Africa next month by reminding the Wasps fly-half that “there’s always a plane back from Johannesburg” if he fails to fall in line with the head coach’s team-first mantra.

After two-and-a-half years of leaving Cipriani out of his plans, Jones handed the 30-year-old a road to international rugby redemption by naming him in the 34-man squad that will take on the Springboks in three Tests next month. There is still of course time for that to change, with the Premiership play-offs still to take place, the annual game against the Barbarians and the risk of injuries always looming on the horizon, but this is some U-turn by the Australian.

Two years ago, Jones claimed he could not pick Cipriani as he is either “number one or not in the squad”, but after losing three consecutive Six Nations matches and seeing both George Ford and Owen Farrell fail to get England’s attack firing, he has drafted in the Premiership’s form attacking No 10.

“Life is full of contractions and three games ago I was the best thing that ever happened to English rugby and now I am the worst thing that ever happened to English rugby,” Jones said after announcing his squad on Thursday.

He added: “I haven’t discussed it with him. I’ve been looking at it purely from a rugby point of view, what he can add and what he can do. I’m convinced there is something he can offer because he’s made changes to his game, and his character will come through. If he’s a good character he could be in the team for a long time. If he’s a bad character, there’s always a plane back from Johannesburg.

“But that’s the same for every player. We look at not only how they play rugby but how they fit into a team.

“The baggage doesn’t worry me. It’s how he behaves in front of me. I can’t control what he’s done in the past. All I can do is control what he does in the future so for me, it’s how he comes in, how he reacts and how he communicates with other players, how he responds to coaching, how he’s able to understand how we want to play and fit in to that mould. And also give him that flexibility to display his talent. He’s definitely got a creative talent and we don’t want to annul that creative talent but he has to understand that there is a team and he has to play within that team. It’ll be exciting to see how he goes.”

Much has been made of Jones’ continuous omission of Cipriani, who returned to the Premiership from a season with the aptly named Rebels in Melbourne six years ago to try and resurrect his international career. That didn’t quite go to plan, with his last Test appearance coming in a 2015 Rugby World Cup warm-up match before missing out on Stuart Lancaster’s squad for the tournament.

open image in gallery

His talent is undoubted – he could yet be named the Premiership Player of the Year if rumours are anything to go by – but against that has been legitimate questions about his temperament, his ability to gel with other players in a team atmosphere and the way he asks questions of not just his teammates, but his own coaches.

“He better have good questions,” noted Jones. “As long as they are good questions. If they are terrible questions then it’s not a good idea. A bit like journalist, isn’t it?”

With Ford and Farrell both in the squad too, Jones will have a selection dilemma on his hands – more than the one that led to the former being dropped for England’s final Six Nations game against Ireland in March and the latter moving to fly-half. Cipriani could easily play alongside Farrell, but Jones is also open to deploying him at full-back if needed, given Mike Brown is the lone natural 15 in the squad due to Anthony Watson’s and Jack Nowell’s injuries.

As of now, Jones is yet to decide on where he sees Cipriani in his side. “That’ll depend on how well he does, whether he’s the starting ten or a back-up player off the bench, or a squad player, he’ll have a role to do. His role will be dependent on how well he comes into the camp, shows us what he can do,” Jones said.

open image in gallery

The Australian listed 20 players that he is without for the tour – 16 through injury or fitness and four rested in Danny Care, Dan Cole, James Haskell and Richard Wigglesworth. Of those, about a dozen would be expected to feature in Jones’ strongest squad, so it is once again a surprise to see Exeter Chiefs flanker Don Armand omitted – even though he was called into the squad as injury cover during the Six Nations.

“He’s a very good player but we just don’t feel like he’s going to add to the squad at this stage,” Jones explained, before elaborating on why he decided to rest the aforementioned quartet.

“It’s all individually based – what we feel the player needs to be ready for the World Cup. Do they have to have a rest now, whether it’s a physical or mental rest, we felt those guys would benefit from a rest now.

“We’ve toyed with a number of other players and in the end this is the balance we’ve come up with and at the end of the day this is a judgment we make.”

open image in gallery

The absence of Armand and Haskell means that both Tom Curry of Sale and Newcastle’s Mark Wilson return to the squad, along with the expected inclusion of Wellington Hurricanes captain brad Shields – parachuted into the squad ahead of his impending move to Wasps. But with Billy Vunipola back – fitness pending – and Sam Simmonds, Chris Robshaw and youngsters Jack Willis and Ben Earl included, there is plenty for Jones to consider in how he balances his back-row. One thing is for sure though, Simmonds will not be seen in the No 7 shirt any time soon.

“We’ve got Curry, Wilson, good competition,” Jones said of his problem openside flanker hunt. “Not Simmonds, he’s an eight. We’ve got to find a better way to use him at eight. He’s got to find a better way to be successful as a small No 8 at international level.

“Willis is a gangly all elbows and knees-type player. I just like the way he puts his head over the ball and wants to carry through contact. I like the rawness of him. We want to keep that.

“Ben Earl is a different type of player. He’s your more shined brogues, handkerchief in the pocket, plum in the mouth type. He’s a very educated player. Too nice a boy. We want him to play tougher. He can play rugby – he has a nice feel for the game – but he needs to get that bit of roughness and toughness about him so we might scuff up his brogues for him.”

But all is not lost for Armand, or any other player left out of Jones’s plan. After all, the return of Cipriani proves that even the most stubborn of coach’s can change their mind on any player, no matter how contradictory that decision may be.