Danny Cipriani set to join Gloucester as he bids to keep England career alive
The 30-year-old will cap his return to the England squad by finalising terms on a lucrative contract with Gloucester
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Your support makes all the difference.Danny Cipriani is ready to join Gloucester after holding advanced talks with the Premiership club and the England head coach Eddie Jones, The Independent understands.
The 30-year-old will cap his return to the England squad by finalising terms on a lucrative contract with Gloucester, who on Friday night suffered defeat in the European Challenge Cup final by Cardiff Blues.
Other Premiership clubs have expressed interest in Cipriani, including Bath, while the fly-half received numerous offers from France. However, after holding talks with Jones regarding his future plans, Cipriani will this week join Gloucester to keep his international career alive – though the deal at present has not been signed.
Had Cipriani informed Jones that he was leaving the country to take up an offer from France or Japan, it is almost certain that he would have been left out of Jones’ squad for the summer tour of Australia due to the Rugby Football Union’s selection policy to not pick players based overseas.
Cipriani will leave Wasps at the end of the season following the Premiership play-offs, with Dai Young’s side due to face Saracens next Saturday in the semi-finals. The club have already announced the signing of his replacement, All Blacks fly-half Lima Sopoaga, with Cipriani announcing earlier this season that he was not renewing his contract at his childhood club.
It will bring an end to his second spell at Wasps after returning in 2016 from Sale Sharks, where he spent three seasons rebuilding his reputation and trying to force his way back into the international side. But after being given the last of his 14 international cap by Stuart Lancaster in a Rugby World Cup warm-up match in 2015, Cipriani was left out of the squad for the tournament and has not been picked by Jones until now.
His arrival at Kingsholm will cause concern for the current incumbent of the Gloucester No 10 shirt Billy Burns, while Wales international Owen Williams is also on the books at the club but is seen by head coach Johan Ackermann as a more suitable inside centre in a second playmaker role.
The acquisition is a major coup for Gloucester, who finished the seventh in the Premiership but qualified for next season’s Champions Cup by virtue of their Challenge Cup final appearance, with the Blues already qualified via the Pro14.
It was reported that Sale were looking into the possibility of bringing Cipriani back to the AJ Bell Stadium after shelving plans to sign controversial Ireland fly-half Paddy Jackson. The club had agreed a deal with Jackson, who was sacked by Ulster last month following the Belfast rape trial that saw both he and Irish centre Stuart Olding cleared of all charges.
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