Danny Cipriani is a rugby player who needs no introduction.
Aged only 23 Cipriani has already made more newspaper headlines than most rugby players ever will in their playing careers. Cipriani was, at a point, better known for his high profile relationship with the actress Kelly Brook and his antics of the rugby pitch than for his performances when playing.
Currently contracted to the new Australian Super Rugby franchise, the Melbourne Rebels, Cipriani is coming to the end of his first season playing down-under. Prior to this he played for London Wasps, making his 1st XV debut aged only 17.
In his first full season with London Wasps Danny attracted a lot of attention with how well he was able to control games and was tipped to make the England World Cup Squad, however he just missed out. He was then named in the 2008 6-Nations squad, and was due to make his first test start against Scotland. However he was dropped because he stayed out late on the Thursday before the match. He then got his first start and scored an impressive 18 points against Ireland. Lawrence Dallaglio described his performance as "one of the most outstanding individual performances I have ever, ever seen
Many will remember the infamous bust-up Danny had with fellow Wasps team mate and England World Cup winning veteran Josh Lewsey
In February 2010 Danny announced he would move to Australia to play for the new Super Rugby team the Melbourne Rebels. Since moving he has played 10 games for the franchise scoring 91 points, including an impressive individual try against the Sharks from South Africa. Much has been said on both his natural attacking flair and his poor defensive performances. But I feel that as Southern Hemisphere teams play more open attacking rugby, his style of play is better suited to Super Rugby than the Aviva Premiership.
Unfortunately Danny has not left his troublesome ways in England. After the Rebels first game against the Waratahs, which ended in the Rebels suffering a 43-0 hammering, Danny was caught on CCTV stealing a bottle of vodka from behind the bar of the club he was at. He was fined a week's wages, and the incident was forgotten.
However a number of weeks later, after another games against the Waratahs, Danny and a fellow Rebels player stayed out past a team agreed curfew. Cipriani has not featured for the team since this incident.
There has been an increase in speculation about Danny's future in Australia, and he has been linked with moves to Top 14 club Toulon and the English team Bath. This is a result of the team apparently losing confidence in the playmaker's ability to remain committed to training and sticking to club rules.
Comparisons can be drawn to another high-profile rugby player, Gavin Henson, who like Danny is perhaps better known for what he does off the rugby pitch than on it. Gavin who appeared to be getting his career back on track has been sacked by Toulon for "brawling and currently faces the daunting prospect of trying to find a club that will sign him.
Danny and Gavin are two very gifted rugby players, however their antics off the pitch make them unattractive to have as part of a club, and if they do not clean up their acts both face the prospect of no longer playing rugby, even though both have a number of playing years in them, Danny in particular is only 23 and is at least another 2 “ 3 years away from his potential peak.
