Rejecting Reading for Rugby Pays Off for New Full-back

Danny Cipriani turned down a youth training scheme placement with Reading football club six years ago because of his admiration for the then New Zealand full-back Christian Cullen, the player who in an attacking sense redefined the position where the Wasps' outside-half will make his first international start on Saturday.

The young Cipriani would get up early to watch live television coverage of Cullen, who scored 46 tries in 58 Tests, in action for the Wellington Hurricanes in the Super 12 or New Zealand in the Tri-Nations and decided he wanted to become not just a professional rugby player but the best player in his position in the world.

Not that the world yet knows where that position is. Cipriani, who turned 20 four months ago, will await Scotland's aerial bombardment at full-back but he was originally chosen in the squad to exert pressure on Jonny Wilkinson at outside-half, the position he fills for Wasps, after playing most of last season and the first two weeks of the current one at full-back.

"I was good at three sports as a boy, football, cricket and rugby," said Cipriani. "The offer from Reading [after playing youth football for QPR] was very tempting and I thought I liked nothing better than scoring goals but watching Christian Cullen made me want to pursue rugby as a career and I suppose it is fitting that my first start for England comes in the same number jersey that he wore. I never got tired of watching him, no matter what early hour the Super 12 matches were on. He is my idol and my inspiration."

Cipriani will be winning his third cap, having come on as a replacement center against Wales last month before coming on for Wilkinson in Rome the following week. He has played most of his senior rugby for Wasps at full-back but since the end of the World Cup has been used at outside-half where he has been influential in helping the Heineken Cup holders move up the Guinness Premiership table.

With the England head coach, Brian Ashton, admitting that full-back is a problem position and with Wilkinson having no thoughts of abdication, Cipriani's immediate international future would appear to lie at 15 but, as Ashton said: "I cannot make any predictions about where Danny will end up because we are fortunate to have so many talented young players coming through the system in England."

Cipriani admits to being a perfectionist, determined to become the best player in his position in the world, wherever that may be. Like the Wales outside-half James Hook, mistakes do not preoccupy him. After giving away a try in Rome when he had a kick charged down his response, with the Azzurri scenting an unlikely victory, was to peg them back deep in their own territory in the final few minutes. "If you make an error, you move forward," he said. "Some people see me as a free spirit or a maverick because I have a reputation for trying things but above everything I aim to keep my mistakes to a minimum. I like to try things but, if they do not come off, it is a case of getting it right next time."

Ashton described Cipriani as deceptively quick, a trait the player attributes to the sprint training he has done with Margot Wells - wife of the former Olympic 100 meters champion Allan - for the last two years. "I want to be the best," said Cipriani. "I have been fortunate in my career to work with so many influential people like Shaun Edwards, Margot, Brian Ashton, Warren Gatland, Ian McGeechan and Dave Alred. I always strive to improve: the day I rest on my laurels is the day I retire and I do not intend that for another 15 years."