Former England flyhalf Danny Cipriani has had his fair share of time in the naughty corner, so in this preview of tonight's Clare Balding Show, he discusses some of the more infamous incidents. Arsenal footballer Alex Oxlade Chamberlain is on hand to pick him out on the details.
View the show on BT Sport 1 at 22:15 tonight with repeats on Friday 17th at 14:30 and 17:30 on BT Sport 2, Monday 20th at 19:00 on BT Sport 2 and Wednesday 22nd at 21:00 on BT Sport 1.
the british media is sad enough to follow the slightest tip off, career hungry nobodies with a fancy camera and no respect for other's privacy use people like him as a stepping stone into the good books of the people with the money.
As far as I am aware (I could be wrong), they were allowed out but had a midnight curfew. Most kept it quiet, but he went into the paparazzi 'red zone'. The ticket excuse is plausible, but all you have to do is leave them behind the desk for people to pick up on match day, every free ticket i've been given has always been picked up at the ticket office.
I suppose we are all talking of details we don't fully know, either way the response was heavy handed, i'm not trying to justify it, just playing devil's advocate.
Management tells you you're free to relax for an evening, chill out and unwind. If what works for you is to go and see a couple of mates, then that's what you should do. There is a vast body of research demonstrating that people in all professions perform better when they have a healthy work/life balance.
If he was pissed a few nights before a game, that would be a different kettle of fish. I mean, for example, if it was a couple of days before a World Cup quarter-final and he was in a bar with an international team mate, smoking and drinking and being a bit abusive to members of the public. Like world cup winners Cory Jane and Izzy Dagg for instance.
"he disobeyed a direct order from the old fashioned management."
But I don't think he did, did he? The management had given everyone the night off, with no training the next day and 2-3 days before the match. Most of the rest of the team were also out that night, just in different venues.
What we have in the UK is a press made up of cynical, jealous wankers who just can't stand to see a bloke doing well. Especially if that bloke happens to be good looking, in which case their jealousy goes into overdrive.
Cipriani was already being touted as the next big thing and the git also had the temerity to be attractive to women. Why were the paps hanging around at that club - where by the way Cipriani by all accounts only stayed a couple of hours without having a drop of booze? Because photos of Lee Mears, Steve Borthwick and George Chuter don't sell newspapers.
wasn't cips offence around the same time as that NZ tour where the Harlequins lads got a bit too friendly with a waitress?
Harsh decision by Ashton, but it is a matter of principle and respect, he disobeyed a direct order from the old fashioned management.
Football is a bit more lax, Balotelli still smokes 10 a day, plays with fireworks, quad bikes, and crashes super cars on the regular, but delivers the goods and has a track record of winning important games. On the flip side, Haskell is/was an over bearing, over confident silver spoon 'banter merchant', but his work ethic is legendary. Cipriani was the next big thing, but he let it get to his head.
OR - who cares what you're doing as long as it's not heinous. If you can perform after drinking 10 shots of tequila then it shouldn't matter. The only reason this is even an issue is because of a prudish attitude from a few that make the rest of us back off. If he is the best flyhalf at the time then he plays. It's that simple.
It is the decisions you make that define you.
True, he was the bright young star of the england team, true he did go out and was seen outside a nightclub... but for one night in your life how hard is it to turn your phone off and stay indoors?
We have all made mistakes, but even as a social amateur, my week revolved around the Sunday morning hit-out. Acting like a professional helped improve my game, and proper food, sleep etc. helped the day job no end too.
Call me boring, but it's not difficult to be 'sensible'. Work first, play later. Save the 10 pints and 4am kebab for after the game only. You might 'play' rugby, but if it pays the mortgage, it is your JOB.
Well he's very philosophical about it, but I think it's completely wrong that a brilliant young talent had his career pulled out from under him because of a few total non-stories. Shame on Brian Ashton for bowing down to the more rabid and pathetic elements in the media who created such a shit storm out of the nightclub "incident". These cretinous, jealous little scumbags who simply can't stand to see people succeed.