Danny Cipriani to leave Wasps at the end of the season after being repeatedly snubbed by England

Danny Cipriani will “take some time to decide” what he will do from next season after announcing that he will leave Wasps this summer, with the fly-half ready to turn his back on England and head abroad after being repeatedly overlooked since returning from Australia.

The 30-year-old will see out the season for Wasps and has vowed to give “nothing but my absolute commitment” in the hope of leading Wasps to the Premiership title, but with Eddie Jones leaving Cipriani out of his England plans for the last two years, it appears that he has finally lost patience with trying to add to his 14 international caps.

Both George Ford and Owen Farrell are ahead of Cipriani in the pecking order for England, but Jones has also called up Alex Lozowski and Piers Francis ahead of the Wasps No 10, relegating him to at least fifth-choice for England and potentially even lower after Harry Mallinder was named in last month’s training camp squad.

Issuing a statement on Twitter on Monday, Cipriani confirmed that he will leave Wasps for a second time when his contract expires at the end of the season, having already left once before when he decided to head Down Under in 2010 to join Melbourne Rebels.

“Leaving Wasps the first time was hard enough,” Cipriani said. “Now is the time to announce that I’m leaving the club for a second time.

“Sadness will most likely be the overriding emotion, come the end of May. But I’m also hoping, mixed with the sadness, will be a lot of joy as the job isn’t finished yet.

“I’m loving every moment with this squad and can never fault the support of the clubs loyal fans!! You’ll get nothing but my absolute commitment from myself and the team for the rest of the season.

“I will take some time to decide my next move. Thank you to the Wasps faithful! Let’s go one better this year.”

He has already confirmed that talks have taken place with more than one club in France, with the likes of La Rochelle, Toulon, Toulouse and Clermont Auvergne considering their options at fly-half. It’s understood that there is interest in Cipriani from Japan too, although a move across The Channel is currently the more likely option.

open image in gallery

The current Wasps director of rugby, Dai Young, brought Cipriani back to the club in 2016 after signing him from Premiership rivals Sale Sharks, and he hopes that the public announcement about his future will allow the stand-off to focus fully on his rugby for the remainder of the season, with Wasps looking to go one better than last year’s Premiership final appearance.

“Danny is moving on at the end of the year and we wish him well,” said Young. “We would also like to thank him for all his efforts in a Wasps shirt.

open image in gallery

“As he says, now this decision has been made public we can all concentrate on the really important three-and-a-half months of rugby which lies ahead.

“This begins for Danny, the rest of the squad and staff at the Ricoh on Sunday, where our focus is fully on the challenge presented by Exeter.”