England boss Eddie Jones blasts Danny Cipriani in new book

“I knew Cipriani was an outstanding talent in club rugby,” said Jones.

“I had coached Saracens against Wasps, when he was still a teenager, and Cipriani made the difference in that game. He had brilliant feet, a good eye for space and reasonable skills, so he always looked like he was going to be a very good player.

Jones added: “The Rebels struggled and, in 2011 and 2012, Cipriani was terrible. He looked to have lost his way completely. He was so bad that I thought there would be no way back for him."

Despite being crowned the double Premiership Player of the Season for his scintillating performances in his first season at Gloucester, Cipriani was overlooked after a nightclub incident during the pre-season tour to Jersey that saw him plead guilty for common assault and resisting arrest.

Jones said: “I was not too surprised or let down. When a player consistently does stupid things, you don’t expect him to change much.”

“But the incident in Jersey did not have any bearing on my future selection. I just thought Farrell and Ford were both better players at Test level than Cipriani.

“From Danny’s perspective his cause was done more damage when he played for Gloucester against Saracens. It was billed as a showdown between Farrell and Cipriani, but it was no contest. Saracens and Farrell were dominant.”

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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

He first played club rugby at Rosslyn Park in Roehampton, where he developed his passion for the game.

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.

 Cipriani posed shirtless for a PETA "Ink Not Mink" ad, showing off his tattoos on behalf of the anti-fur campaign

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.

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.

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.

In May 2019 he was voted Player of the Year by the Rugby Players Association.

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.

In February 2020, Cipriani revealed that he has suffered from depression since the age of 22 in an emotional video.