ASHTON SHOULD BACK CIPRIANI - KING
England international fly-half Alex King has urged Brian Ashton not to be afraid to use Wasps' young No10 Daniel Cipriani. The talented 20-year-old will only flourish from more playing time, thinks King, who had held the Wasps No10 shirt for a decade before he moved to ASM Clermont Auvergne last summer.
King, 33, gained three international caps, and would have won more had it not been for the emergence of incumbent fly-half Jonny Wilkinson.
Now his former team-mate, Cipriani, is jostling for Wilkinson's shirt, and though that is a formidable task, King believes that he would benefit from more minutes on the pitch for England.
"I would like to see Danny get more game time for England," said King.
"Ten minutes at the end of a game when his team are struggling is not great for anyone.
"He only touched the ball three times against Italy - once he was charged down; once he dropped it; and the other time he put a great kick into the corner.
"He has bounced back - he played brilliantly against Bath at the weekend and really directed Wasps to victory.
"He has put behind him what happened in Italy and the more game time he gets, the better because the more times he touches the ball the more times things happen.
"And he will learn from have more time on the pitch. Brian Ashton has got to back him for more than 10 minutes in Italy when the team is not functioning very well."
England international fly-half Alex King has urged Brian Ashton not to be afraid to use Wasps' young No10 Daniel Cipriani. The talented 20-year-old will only flourish from more playing time, thinks King, who had held the Wasps No10 shirt for a decade before he moved to ASM Clermont Auvergne last summer.
King, 33, gained three international caps, and would have won more had it not been for the emergence of incumbent fly-half Jonny Wilkinson.
Now his former team-mate, Cipriani, is jostling for Wilkinson's shirt, and though that is a formidable task, King believes that he would benefit from more minutes on the pitch for England.
"I would like to see Danny get more game time for England," said King.
"Ten minutes at the end of a game when his team are struggling is not great for anyone.
"He only touched the ball three times against Italy - once he was charged down; once he dropped it; and the other time he put a great kick into the corner.
"He has bounced back - he played brilliantly against Bath at the weekend and really directed Wasps to victory.
"He has put behind him what happened in Italy and the more game time he gets, the better because the more times he touches the ball the more times things happen.
"And he will learn from have more time on the pitch. Brian Ashton has got to back him for more than 10 minutes in Italy when the team is not functioning very well."
Labels: Alex King, Brian Ashton, Daniel Cipriani, England, rugby union, Six Nations
