Ollie Phillips: Cipriani will bring presence to a low England team

There was no way that Eddie Jones could leave out Danny Cipriani for Englands third Test in South Africa on Saturday.

The fly-half — who will make his first start in a decade as England attempt to stave off a series whitewash against the Springboks in Cape Town — simply had to be picked. If Jones had ignored Cipriani again it would have made taking him to South Africa nothing short of a farce.

Its been a long time coming for the 30-year-old. His spell in the wilderness hasnt always been unjustified. At points he made a rod for his own back — the year in Australia, the celebrity lifestyle. When he was playing well for Sale two years ago it was during the Jones glory days when England went 18 games unbeaten. You couldnt drop anyone.

But in recent times its been too much of an armchair ride for the incumbent players. You need to create competition and for too long there hasnt been any at No9, 10 or 12 for Joness England.

Lets be clear: Cipriani is not going to solve all of Englands problems and nor should we expect him to. The key issues are still the breakdown and the defence. Attacking – one of Ciprianis great strengths – has been quite good in recent losses to the Barbarians and the Boks.

Read more: Ollie Phillips – Danny Cipriani and Dan Robson need to be on England's radar for South Africa tour

The defensive frailties that people always used to talk about whenever Ciprianis name came up are not as prevalent anymore. Hes worked on it and become a lot more solid. Theres no difference in defensive strength between him and fellow fly-half George Ford. England will not lose anything on that side of their game.

What Cipriani will bring is a real commanding presence. He is an outsized personality on the rugby field who orchestrates things and dictates the direction of travel. You just have to look at the difference it makes to Wasps when hes been missing. Without him theyve looked a little rudderless but with him theyve played some really direct, attractive, creative, flowing rugby. Hes going to be more assertive and more direct in how he brings his forwards and his runners into the attack.

You could say its an unfortunate situation for him to finally get his chance when England are in a rocky place and down on confidence. But equally, it could be that a classic Cipriani performance totally galvanizes and transforms a suffering team. Hes that good.

Ollie Phillips is leading a group of inspiring individuals to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro this October. To join him visit https://www.360-expeditions.com/expeditions/ollie-phillips-kilimanjaro

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