By JENNI RUTHERFORD in London - RugbyHeaven | Tuesday, 25 March 2008
England's man of the moment Danny Cipriani is relishing a chance to pit his talents against Dan Carter when the team tours New Zealand in June.
The 20-year-old London Wasp has made it clear that he wants to make the No 10 jersey his own and oust Jonny Wilkinson as the first-choice first five-eighth.
"It would be amazing to come up against Dan Carter, who is a phenomenal player. I have tried to mimic things he does," Cipriani told the Sunday Express. "I watch Super 14 games all the time - it is a competition I have watched since I was young.
"A lot of players will go out [to New Zealand] and learn and improve themselves as players, I want to improve tenfold."
Xavier Rush has warned Warren Gatland not to get too carried away with the prospect of claiming a first Springbok scalp in South Africa when his Grand-Slam winning Wales side tour the Republic in June.
The Cardiff Blues captain believes that world rugby is at a crossroads with the northern and southern hemispheres playing different versions of the game after the introduction of the Experimental Law Variations in the Super 14 which could mean that victory against South Africa may rely on which laws are adopted.
"We've got half the world playing one game and the other half playing another game," the Kiwi No 8 told the Western Mail. "It's hard to know what rules we are going to be playing in the future or where it's all going.
"But I just think it's a bit bizarre we've got one hemisphere playing one game and another hemisphere playing another game at the moment. You are watching one set of rules in the Super 14 and a totally different set of rules in the Six Nations and Heineken Cup.
"If Wales have to play the new rules in the autumn, it's going to be a bit of a disadvantage because the southern hemisphere has had six months to get used to them and play them."
"Any penalisable offence in ruck and maul is just a free-kick now in the southern hemisphere, which means the game is a whole lot quicker down there than it is up here at the moment.
"There's a lot of free-kicks and not many line-outs because there are virtually no penalties, so people aren't kicking for touch.
"The ball-in-play time in a game is 38 minutes, whereas we are at about25 minutes.
"So it's a lot more about fitness and skill, rather than power. I'd have to lose about 5kgs to play under the new rules."
It was a reunion of sorts, meanwhile, at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday for former Crusaders team-mates Justin Marshall and Chris Jack when Saracens, of the English Premiership, met the Ospreys, the Welsh Magners League side, in the semifinal of the Anglo-Welsh Cup.
Marshall got about 25 minutes game-time in the 30-3 victory by the Ospreys after starting on the bench. He was a blood replacement for Wales fullback Lee Byrne before replacing Mike Phillips, the Wales halfback for the final 20 minutes.
Disaster struck for Jack just after half-time when he was forced to leave the field with a suspected broken hand that could impact on his involvement in the upcoming Heineken Cup quarter-final.
It is a blow for the former All Black lock, who earlier in the week said that he was enjoying his first season at the Watford-based club and admitted that he was genuinely surprised by the quality of rugby in England.
"The way these guys play is exceptional. That is the first thing that surprised me when I got here," he said. "The rugby they play is open and wide and then when you play against the England side their play is not."
Another Cantabrian and former All Black Aaron Mauger was not part of Leicester's 10-point victory over London Wasps in the other semifinal in Cardiff after being ruled out with a hamstring injury.
Carlos Spencer in particular will be happy to see the back of the National League One after Northampton ensured their promotion back to the Guinness Premiership with their 26thsuccessive victory on Saturday.
Spencer admitted that the facilities and conditions in English rugby's second tier competition is a long drop down from those he experienced in the top flight.
"Some of the pitches have been crap, absolute crap, especially last weekend. Fair play to the guys who play in those conditions all the time," Spencer told The Times.
"And some of the changing-rooms have been so small we could hardly move. I've learnt that you've got to be first into the shower, otherwise the water will be cold."
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