Danny Cipriani in his Sale Sharks colours © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Danny Cipriani

Tournaments/Tours: Aviva Premiership

Teams: England | Sale Sharks

Sale new boy Danny Cipriani admits that while he eventually wants to get back in the international reckoning, impressing for the Sharks is his priority.

Cipriani faced journalists at Sale's media launch yesterday and the immediate focus was on his England prospects. With Cipriani using his Twitter account to provide his take on stories involving him making the headlines, the former Melbourne Rebels fly-half has likened this to the sort of treatment that Kevin Pietersen and Robin van Persie have come in for in recent times.

"I will do what I have always done," Cipriani told reporters. "A lot of things about me get embellished and you need to understand the truth first, as is the case with Pietersen and Van Persie. Everyone wants their twopenny worth but what is the truth?

"I learned a lot in Australia and I am ambitious to play for England again. I am excited to be playing in the Premiership again and I have a role and responsibility at Sale. The better the club do in the league and in the Heineken Cup, the more players here will be recognised. It is not about me.

"No matter what I say, it will be about me playing for England, but I just want to have a great season. I am glad I went to Australia because they do things differently there and I want to impose some of the things I learned there, not just in attack. It is about how they understand the game and focus on little details."

Sharks supremo Steve Diamond is adamant that he will have no problems with the player who has previously been involved with some off-field strife. Diamond told the Daily Telegraph: "I don't see a problem with Danny. He's matured, he's ambitious, as are we, he's bought into what we're doing and he's not going to stuff that up by going out to a nightclub before a game. He wants to prove the critics wrong and he's got every tool at his disposal here to be able to do just that."