Tomorrow marks the official announcement of the England squad for the Rugby World Cup but the latest news suggests that fly-half Danny Cipriani will not make the cut.
Both Chris Foy of the Daily Mail and BBC 5Live’s Chris Jones have reported that, despite his man of the match performance in the defeat against France, the Sale man will not make Stuart Lancaster’s final party of 31.
Cipriani was given limited opportunities to impress in the warm-up games as he was brought on to play at full-back as England creaked under the power of the French forwards at Twickenham two weeks ago. In the return fixure he came on to score a try and created several openings as England fought back after a miserable first 40 minutes against France in Paris.
His omission leaves Owen Farrell and George Ford to battle it out for the number 10 shirt. Alex Goode’s excellent performance in the first half against France at home is thought to have been enough to prove to Lancaster that he can provide cover at stand-off if there is an injury to either of the Farrell or Ford.
Cipriani’s exclusion leaves England lacking creativity in the midfield but does open the way for Henry Slade to take a place in the squad. Slade was superb against France at HQ and if he does take a spot it leaves Lancaster with the final important decision to be choosing between Luther Burrell and Sam Burgess.
The full squad is due to be announced tomorrow afternoon at 1.45pm.
