Danny signs but warns Wasps

On the outside looking in: Danny Cipriani has yet to feature in this season's Six Nations tournament
Sam Peters13 April 2012

Danny Cipriani today confirmed he has signed a new one-year deal with London Wasps before challenging the club to deliver top-class replacements for their three France-bound stars.

The 21-year-old decided against agreeing a longer contract after England internationals James Haskell, Tom Palmer and Riki Flutey announced they will move across the Channel this summer.

The out-of-favour England fly-half will review his position midway through next season, insisting he wants to stay at the club, but only if they make substantial progress on and off the field.

Wasps are languishing in eighth place in the Guinness Premiership, following last weekend's defeat to Worcester, and were knocked out of the Heineken Cup in the group stages.

They face London Irish on Sunday in a game head coach Shaun Edwards has labelled "do or die" for their season.

Cipriani, who is among 13 players who have committed their futures to Wasps, says he will only agree a longer deal if new owner Steve Hayes delivers on his promise to recruit the best.

"It's just a one-year deal because I want to see how the club is moving forward under Steve Hayes," said Cipriani. "I'll know in a year if they are going to develop this club and the players who come replace the players that have gone. I'm Wasps through and through and by the end of this year I could have signed another three years on top of it.

"It's just making sure everything is right and that we knuckle down and come together as a squad. That really has been happening in these last couple of weeks.

"There is a really good team spirit, I'm enjoying training and it's where I want to be at the minute.

"It was disappointing to lose James because he is a great player but I've got no doubt that the recruitment here will fill his place. It's down to Wasps recruitment to replace the three players and I'm guaranteed they will do so."

England stars Phil Vickery, Tim Payne, Tom Rees and Simon Shaw are among the other players to get new deals while club stalwart Richard Birkett has also agreed a one-year contract.

The club refused to comment on which of their remaining players are yet to re-sign but executive chairman Mark Rigby moved to reassure Cipriani of Wasps' ambition.

"Today is a strong day for the club," Rigby said. "We're delighted that 13 of our players have committed themselves to the club for the 2010 season and beyond. I hope today goes a long way to ending the speculation surrounding Wasps regarding the 2010 season.

"From our perspective we wanted to deliver some impact in terms of the squad for next season and we do that in a big way today by having a baker's dozen confirming their commitment to the club."

Director of rugby Ian McGeechan said: "This is a great show of intent from the players and our board as we see a mixture of experienced and international-calibre players combine with up-and-coming names. All of these play a pivotal role both now and in the future and are core to the continuing development of the team and our rugby."

Cipriani is beginning to show signs of returning to his best form following a difficult season that has seen him battle back from a career-threatening broken leg sustained last May.

Sunday's sell-out clash at Adams Park will give him another opportunity to showcase his talent and remind England manager Martin Johnson of his undoubted skill.

"The last four games I have felt really good," Cipriani said. "A lot of responsibility has been put on me and I feel I am back to my best."

Edwards is impressed by the way Cipriani has shown a willingness to prove the doubters wrong.
The Wasps head coach said: "I challenged Danny to win some turn-overs with his work at the breakdown. Although we lost at Worcester last weekend, Danny won two turn-overs and he also led the team well."

Wasps cannot afford to lose again if they are to maintain their late push for a play-off place but the good news for them is that Tom Rees will make his return on Sunday after nine weeks out with knee ligament damage.

England backs coach Brian Smith has apologised for claiming referee Jonathan Kaplan treated his side harshly because Wales applied pressure to him in the lead-up to their Six Nations defeat in Cardiff.

Smith accused the Welsh management of succeeding in their attempts to influence the South African official after seeing his side penalised six times in the opening 16 minutes at the Millennium Stadium three weeks ago.

Though Smith stopped short of retracting the comments today, he admitted it had been a mistake to air his views publicly.

"Jonathan and I have spoken since the Wales Test match and I believe it was a positive conversation," he said.

"I apologised for expressing my views publicly. He is one of the best referees in the world and we'll continue to have a healthy working relationship."

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