England
Flood: Cipriani will not receive any England guarantees
ESPN Staff
January 16, 2015
Danny Cipriani scores a conversion, Sale Sharks v London Welsh, Aviva Premiership, AJ Bell Stadium, September 20, 2014
Stuart Lancaster will not promise Danny Cipriani international rugby to keep him in the country, according to Toby Flood © PA
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England coach Stuart Lancaster will give Danny Cipriani "no guarantees" in his bid to dissuade the fly-half from moving to France, according to Toby Flood.

England head coach Lancaster met Cipriani this week and will on Wednesday announce his senior and Saxons squads ahead of the Six Nations. Cipriani is expected to be named in the Saxons group in a move that could lead the Sale fly-half to join French Top 14 champions Toulon this summer.

England refuse to select overseas-based players, save for "exceptional circumstances" - a policy that ended Flood's Test career when he left Leicester last year. Flood revealed sympathy for Cipriani's position, should he be deemed England's fourth-choice fly-half in Lancaster's updated squads.

"Stuart can't guarantee someone a position - he can't guarantee anything," Flood told Press Association Sport. "He's a bright guy, he won't sit there and say either 'actually you know what, you're fourth choice', or 'you're going to play'.

"He's smart enough to realise he will say 'you're in the mix, and you're in a position where we do believe you can add to the side'. And that decision then falls on that player to make the call. And that is true from Stuart - I think he's going to say 'you've got an opportunity to fight it out, but at the same time it's your decision'.

"And that's all Stuart can do - he will make no guarantees, because he can't. You can't hedge on England. You either get in or you don't. And the difference in that only comes down to form and timing, and Stuart can't control either of those for someone. He will always be honest and say 'you're in the mix' and that's probably as far as he can go."

He continued: "The hard thing is, if you keep hearing 'you're in the top three' or 'you're in the top four', it doesn't really sell it to you. It's fantastic to be in the top four in England, of course - that's a huge honour. But at the same time maybe you can go somewhere else and be number one and do something completely different.

"Third or fourth choice means if everyone's fit and well you don't play for your country. You come in for two or three days a week every so often, but then you go back to your club to play. That's a tough position to be in: you can feel as though you're always dipping your toe in the water but it's never quite yours."

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