Dallaglio backs Cipriani to shine
Lawrence Dallaglio insists fly-half Danny Cipriani will bounce back from being dropped and go on to achieve great things for England - just like Jonny Wilkinson did.
Cipriani, 21, has been dropped to the bench for Saturday's Investec Challenge against New Zealand after a wretched performance in the record defeat to South Africa, but Dallaglio knows Cipriani well having captained him at Wasps and he believes the precocious fly-half will use this setback as motivation to achieve his ambition of becoming the best in the world.
"This is the harshest environment to learn lessons," Dallaglio told PA Sport at an event organised by England sponsors Greene King IPA. "Danny's time will come. Jonny Wilkinson was dropped in the middle of a World Cup and we all know what he went on to do for England."
England manager Martin Johnson has blooded six debutants this month - Delon Armitage, Ugo Monye, Riki Flutey, Nick Kennedy, Dylan Hartley and Jordan Crane - while the like of Cipriani and scrum-half Danny Care had only two Test starts between them when the series began.
It may be painful now, but Dallaglio believes England's youngsters will look back on November 2008 as a vital experience in their development.
"It took me a lot of games to beat Australia, South Africa and New Zealand - but we eventually beat them because we learned what it was like to play against those sides," Dallaglio continued.
"Once you learn how to win you build momentum. We finally beat the Boks in 1998 and from 2000 we won 12 straight games against southern hemisphere opposition."
