Cirpiani showing form...great to see

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This from RugbyPlanet site...

A 26-minute first-half effort from Danny Cipriani helped the Rebels to secure their first win of the season in a 30-29 triumph over the Force on Friday.


It was a fine showing from the soon-to-be Sale Sharks fly-half as he set up a try and scored one of his own before being taken off with a leg injury.


That cameo helped the Rebels into a 21-0 lead with just 22 minutes on the clock and from there they held off a spirited Perth outfit to claim victory.


The Rebels were struck by a double blow during the warm-up when James O'Connor and Richard King were both forced to pull out with repspective injuries. That meant a start for Lloyd Johannson and Julian Huxley while Nic Stirzaker and James Hilgendorf were called onto the bench. However, the absence of two of their key players did not hamper the Rebels as they put in an improved start from last week's against the Cheetahs.

It took just eight minutes for the hosts to get over the whitewash for the first score of the match when a flat ball from Cipriani found ex-Wasp Lachlan Mitchell, who had been moved from wing to outside centre at AAMI Stadium. That converted score was just the beginning of a purple patch for the Melbourne Rebels.


Cipriani seemed to be enjoying the freedom of running the backline without Wallaby star O'Connor outside him and when the bulky Johannson crossed six minutes after Mitchell, the home crowd were lapping up the good start.

It was about to get better as when Mark Gerrard showed good skills down the right wing, the veteran looked inside to find Cipriani on hand. The Englishman had a clear run to the line and then performed a celebratory dance. It was his last offering as the number ten had strained a hamstring in the act of scoring.


Not quite sure about the "celebratory dance" part with a strained hammy! Hope he did not aggravate the injury or worse yet cause it in his dance.

I hope his hammy recovers quickly.

I hope that his form continues to improve through the rest of the supers and with Sale.

We cant afford to just shed players of his attacking talent.

We just need him to make his tackles and sort out his attitude and we could be in business?

Youngs (in form), Cipriani (in form) Barrit, Tuilagi, Ashton (in form), Johnny May, Foden.

.......

Will be on the lookout for the youtube footage of this game.

Admittedly, I haven't seen Cipriani play recently, but if you consider his out and out attacking ability, then I think he's the best we have in England.

He's a massive threat when running with the ball, and that threat opens up the backline as the defenders can't afford to drift outside him.

If that was all that was required, then I'm pick him for England in a heartbeat.


Unfortunately, there is more to it.
Defence is one thing.
Teamwork is another.

While I believe that he can bring a back line alive, I don't often get the impression that they're all working happily together... and at the highest levels, that is what you need.

I do think that his defence can be protected to a certain degree (especially if we're playing with Barritt / Tuilagi)


However, to play for England again, he need to be singing from the same hymn sheet as the coaches, and the other players.
That will be his biggest problem

Struggling clubs will always be tempted to have a punt on talented but risky players. In football parlance he is a Craig Bellamy....at his best right up there, but has a habit of upsetting almost everyone. History and track records dictate that this will not work out for Sale, but when your team is having a tough time they tend to gamble! And there is always a chance....

The annoyance with Cipriani is that we know what a good player he could be (hell, he made Jamie Noon look like a class international centre in that match v Ireland), but that he has come nowhere near fulfilling the potential.

As for his tackling, I recall a Wasps v Tiggers match (Pilkington Cup final perhaps) when he was playing fullback, when a Tuillagi (can't remember which one) broke through and Cips made a great head-on tackle - it proved he can do it and has the physical attributes to be a good defender, but his attitude to defending is not good (as exemplified by the Lewsey story).

Hopefully some time at Sale will force him to focus on developing the all-round aspects of his game, because at the moment he is the most gifted attacking 10 we could pick, but because of the attitude issues and the weaknesses in his game he is below at least Flood and Farrell in the pecking order.

Dummy half - totally agree, I've seen him make good tackles but he's lazy/not that bothered sometimes.

However, if Sale can get his attitude right, imagine the current England side with Cips

dummy-half

It was the 2007 Heino final when Cips stopped Tuilagi. The whole of the Tigers contingent expected DC to get trampled.

Thanks Hound, I couldn't remember the occasion, but I was there - Good day!