EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW XXXXX DECO

PLAYER PROFILE

DANNY CIPRIANI

much as you need to know about him.”

And Dallaglio, who has always lived life to the full, is confident Cipriani won’t be distracted by the bright lights of the celebrity lifestyle.

“Danny likes a little bit of the showbiz that goes with rugby, but he won’t allow any of that to disrupt his career path. He loves rugby too much to let that happen. He’s probably learned some pretty harsh lessons already, but he’s not shy of it. I’ve noticed that he’s currently dating a young, attractive lady and he’s enjoying himself and good luck to him, why not?”

A talented all-round sportsman, Cipriani was destined for stardom from an early age. He played football for QPR, was offered youth terms by Reading, and invited to join Surrey County Cricket Club as a batsman. But he discovered his real passion when he started playing rugby at Rosslyn Park aged 9. After joining Wasps as a 17-year-old, he made his first-team debut in December 2004, which made him the youngest player to take to the pitch in
a senior rugby game at the time. n

Cipriani needs to prove that he is the man to wear the No. 10 shirt for England

02/11/1987

LONDON WASPS

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¹experience for me. I didn’t expect to be a world-class player after just seven games back but I did expect to be producing some sort of form and to have more consistency. That’s something I need to improve on.”

He is desperate for the chance to show that he has fully recovered from the injury and that his game is back up to the level it was at before that serious injury setback. “My goal is to show everyone the best of Danny Cipriani at the Six Nations.”

Certainly, those who have played alongside him have no doubt he will be one of the stars of not just English rugby but the world game in the years to come.

“What I like about Danny,” says Lawrence Dallaglio, his former captain at Wasps, “is that he will do something on the rugby pitch and it won’t always work, and everyone will shout at him and say, ‘What the hell did you do that for?’ And it will cost him. Then 10 minutes later he will try it again and it will work. He’s not put off, his confidence is not damaged by that and that shows as

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