Cipriani is joining Sale Sharks

[BJ.]

According to breaking news on Sky Sports, he has signed a 3-year deal.

[Hull Fan]

I bet the fans are pleased!
Can't see Cips fitting the mould of a Steve Diamond player, be interesting to watch him from a far.
I wonder if he will turn up in a ferrari for his first training session as he did his first England session. (As reported in LM auto)

[adamv6]

Having watched him for the Rebels, Sale need to get the ground man to work extra hard on the grass in the centre of the pitch, as there will be an awful lots of traffic going that way.

Swingdoor Hodgson out > Stiff breeze Cipriana in

[jgriffin]

Will be less of a shock to the system than expected. Melbourne to Stockport. No problem with the weather, bit like getting a transfer to a NZ side, but without the spaces and the staggering scenery (although nice scenery within ten miles). Ground is the pits, but then he has Wasps in the memory-bank. Race track (aka M60) on the doorstep. Move in down Mere/Mobberley/Altrincham way and have all those mindless footie players as neighbours (no locals left in some villages). Friday night matches leaving the weekends free for clubbing. Thriving transvestite scene down Salford way.
Only flies in the ointment having to play rugby and that awful Mr Diamond.

[AidanMcDowell]

He's stated his intention of getting the England No.10 jersey back in time for the 2015 World Cup. I once thought he was a shoe-in for that role but what are his chances now? With the media darling Farrel the incumbent and with George Ford closing in fast I think Cips is going to have to play out of his skin for two solid years to be in with a shout. As others have said on other threads on this Forum, I can't really see him 'doing it' on a cold wet Friday night. It should be interesting to watch though...

[alex_111]

He'll love those cold, wet Friday nights!

[Tiglon]

I read this in the Telegraph a couple of weeks ago

I'd rather see Cipriani at no. 12 than fly half - but certainly looking forward to seeing if he can live up to the potential we know he has.

[Darc Tiger]

Seems Bomber is a fan anyway: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/17450607

Although the link does say Cippers is moving from Melbourne Storm...

[G.K]

What potential exactly. Only thing I recall was that he was good at getting charged down and annoying just about anyone he came into contact with.

[Jay C]

Taken from the article on Hawkins injury in the Mercury :

"Cockerill has admitted that Tigers 'had a look' at signing fly-half Danny Cipriani before he confirmed a three-year deal at Sale yesterday. 'It wasn't for us in the end', he said."

What with Ford & Floody at the club, that can only have taken about 3 seconds to "have a look" ...... unless Cockers thinks Cips could play 12 or 15 ???

[movingtoleicester]

Does he still wear the 'pretty boy' backs headgear?

[jgriffin]

I thought the headgear was for checking essentials under the duvet!
The boy may have talent but the man has largely wasted it. Ford is far more talented, and Flood more able.
I'll give it 3 months.

[GS]

He's got talent alright, but no bottle. At least not the last time he played for Wasps at WR. Great break to set up their first try but as we took control he went out to lunch and ended up with a bit of a mardy at the end. Perhaps his time away has toughened him up a bit but I wouldn't want him on my side if I was chasing a game.

[sam16111986]

I suspect Cockers was thinking of him as a 15 rather than a 12 (ICs have to be able to tackle head on). We have a 15 who is a second play maker who is famous for his footballing skills, pace and ability to spot a gap. Much of that Cipriani showed at Wasps. His side on tackling (Tuilagi in the HEC Final) is actually pretty good, it's his head on tackling that is shockingly bad.

Get him at the back with plenty of room and he could run it back and cause plenty of problems. Step him onto the blindside or running a wide line behind a dummy runner and use him as an additional distributor. His left foot is capable of some big kicks from hand and is pretty good in front of goal (our other kickers are all right footed).

[sam16111986]

It could have worked nice for us. Cips no doubt wanted the 10 shirt and probably wanted to avoid full contact sessions at Tigers (can't imagine he'd have been cheap either). Though Steve Diamond up at Sale is hardly going to let him fairy about, he'll expect hard work from him.