Why Danny Cipriani Should Not Be a World Cup Starter for England

Danny Cipriani grabbed a number of headlines prior to this Six Nations.

His form for Sale and the injury to Owen Farrell propelled the fly-half to first-choice backup behind George Ford for the England No. 10 shirt.

The former Wasps man was restricted to that role for the whole of the tournament, however, with Ford playing well throughout.

Cipriani did score off the bench against Italy, but that was his most meaningful contribution on the field.

Despite his limited involvement, Cipriani took to social media to describe the tournament as "the best eight weeks of my life," per The Telegraph.

As it stands, the ex-Melbourne Rebel is an injury away from conducting the England back line as first-choice pivot.

This is some achievement considering the playmaker's colourful past.

After a stunning full debut in 2008, Cipriani looked set for coronation as the successor to Jonny Wilkinson, but that glorious career did not materialise.

An ankle injury towards the end of that season set his development back, and when he returned, Martin Johnson was at the England helm.

He stuck with Cipriani for only a short while, his last cap for six years coming at the end of 2008 as a replacement against New Zealand.

Via Melbourne, Sale and the front of a bus, per BBC Sport, the 27-year-old has matured as a man off the field and found consistency on it, displaying signature moments of skill within a structured, composed way of playing that eventually found favour with the current England setup.

With Farrell engaged in club duty and Ford injured at the end of last season, Cipriani got his chance when he twice came on as replacement for Freddie Burns in the Test series on England’s tour of New Zealand.

Since then, he has surpassed Burns and Northampton's Stephen Myler in the pecking order and is currently ahead of Farrell—if indeed the Saracen is regarded as a viable 10 and not a 12, where he was shunted to in the autumn.

This is one question not yet answered: Had Farrell been fit, would he—and not Cipriani—have played backup to Ford during the tournament?

The son of England defence coach Andy Farrell lost his starting spot to Ford during the 2014 autumn Tests, and that came about after a stop-start domestic season for Farrell and an injury that hampered his form.

England’s thinking about this area of selection is unclear so far. The only certainty now is that Ford is the main man.

How likely is that to change?

England have three warm-up games before the World Cup kicks off: two against France and a final run-out against Six Nations champions Ireland.

Cipriani would have to start all three to bed down as No. 1 fly-half, which isn't going to happen.

Ford is in need of as much game time as he can get at this level to improve his goal-kicking and forge an understanding with whomever England settle on as inside centre.

Luther Burrell played well but didn't answer all the questions about his becoming the man in that role. England could prefer the defensive abrasiveness of Brad Barritt or the game-management and kicking abilities of Farrell.

Manu Tuilagi may also prove his fitness and come back to challenge for that jersey, so Ford will need time to strike up a game-situation relationship with the Leicester man if he is England head coach Stuart Lancaster’s preferred man in that slot.

Whomever Lancaster settles on, throwing Cipriani into the mix would entail starting from scratch as far as a brand-new 10-12 combination goes, and that, with an already relatively inexperienced England back line heading into the World Cup, would be unthinkable.

Additionally, the England hierarchy may see more value in reintroducing Farrell to international rugby after his injury layoff, giving him at least one run-out in the warm-up schedule.

If the coaches opt for a revolving-door policy during these summer Tests to give each man some game time, Cipriani may get a half here or there—not enough to turn selection thinking on its head, unless he rips teams to shreds.

In short, the clock has ticked down on his chances of proving himself, and the best he can hope for is what he got in the Six Nations: some cameos off the bench if the game is safe, perhaps the unenviable job of trying to salvage a result in the last 20 minutes or maybe a start against a group minnow.

Sadly, for this talented player who could have had 50 or more caps by now, the window of opportunity has passed for him to be England’s main man.