REPORT | Gloucester target new fly-half with Danny Cipriani set for early departure
Transfer RumoursSunday, 13 December 2020 at 09:44
Superstar fly-half Danny Cipriani could be set to depart Gloucester one year early as the Cherry & Whites look to freshen up their playing squad under George Skivington.
The 33-year-old mercurial playmaker, who is contracted until 2022, has been in and out of the side since boss Johan Ackermann left the club in July due to a mix of personal issue and injury.
Cipriani, who reportedly turned down a move to Japan during lockdown, could now make that move in 2021 a year early with a number of clubs all over the world interested.
Gloucester have been linked with moved for two number 10's by The Rugby Paper today with South African-born Scotland international Jaco van der Walt and Wales playmaker Jarrod Evans mooted as possible replacements for Cipriani.
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Edinburgh goalkicker van der Walt made his international debut last month, while Evans has only.won six caps despite stellar form with Cardiff Blues.
Skivington has also been linked with a move for Leicester Tigers youngster Tom Hardwick.
11 things you didn't know about Danny Cipriani
1. Sporting talent
A keen all-round sportsman, Cipriani played junior football for Queens Park Rangers and was offered youth terms by Reading. He also played schoolboy cricket for Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Cipriani was invited to join Surrey County Cricket Club as a batsman. He also played squash at county level
2. First rugby club
He first played club rugby at Rosslyn Park in Roehampton, where he developed his passion for the game.
3. Heritage
The fly-half is mixed-race; his father is Afro-Trinidadian with some Italian heritage while his mother is English. Cipriani's father, Jay, and his mother, Anne, separated soon after his birth. Although Jay returned to Trinidad, Cipriani was able to remain in contact with him.
4. Animal rights
Cipriani posed shirtless for a PETA "Ink Not Mink" ad, showing off his tattoos on behalf of the anti-fur campaign
5. Dating celebrities
A number of rugby players have dated celebrities, but Cipriani is in a league of his own.
The England fly-half has previously dated high-profile models Kelly Brook and Katie Price. His love life has been a bit more low key since his most recent high-profile girlfriend TV sports presenter Kirsty Gallagher. The relationship fizzled out after six months in 2016.
Other famous romances include Lindsay Lohan, one of the Cheeky Girls and briefly the late Love Island host Caroline Flack.
6. Knock out
The England sporting pin-up was knocked out in a bust-up with club and international team-mate Josh Lewsey in 2012. The golden boy of English rugby was left nursing a bloody nose and cut lip following the incident at Wasps’ training ground in west London – and the session was allegedly abandoned. One of our favourite Danny CIpriani facts.
7. Arrests
Cipriani was arrested for drink-driving after the car he was driving was involved in a collision with a taxi at 05:15 on 1 June 2015. He was convicted after a five-day trial for drink-driving before Westminster Magistrates' Court on 24 June 2016. He was ordered to pay a total of £7,620 in fines and costs and banned from driving for 18 months.
On 15 August 2018, during a pre-season tour in Jersey, Cipriani was arrested after an incident at a nightclub in St Helier. He was charged with common assault on a doorman, larceny, assault on a police woman, resisting arrest and being disorderly on licensed premises later that day.
8. Award winner
In May 2019 he was voted Player of the Year by the Rugby Players Association.
9. Salary
The fly-half was on £190,000 to £200,000 when he arrived at Kingsholm, which was a relatively modest wage for a player of his calibre and experience. It’s been reported that his latest deal with the club is closer to £400,000.
10. Mental health
In February 2020, Cipriani revealed that he has suffered from depression since the age of 22 in an emotional video.
11. Marriage
The 32-year-old recently revealed that his partner, Victoria, was “no longer a single mother,” teasing that they might have already tied the knot. Victoria has two children – Jade Austin, 24, and her teenage son – and has already become a grandma after Jade became a mum four years ago.
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- Jordie Barrett over Damian de Allende is far from being correct. The hype around Dupont is also overreaching, he's probably 4th in the world and has been since the 2023 WC. He also avoids certain matchups which is strange. The rest of the list is pretty good apart from minor subjective biases.JasonMarlow16-09-2026
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