Former Wallabies back Pat Howard and World Cup winning coach Bob Dwyer yesterday said the Melbourne Rebels should persevere with Danny Cipriani despite the wayward star's continuing off-field problems and on-field tackling deficiencies. The Sydney Morning Herald's Stathi Paxinos reports.
"Howard said Cipriani had not completely lived up to the hype and could lose the opportunity to fulfil his talent with his off-field antics.
''Has he been as good as some people had hoped? No,'' Howard said. ''Has he been better than the people who had written him off [thought]? Absolutely, the balance is somewhere in between. Cipriani has played a role. He's shown that he could be very, very good.
'
'I'd love to make this judgment in another 12 months' time. I think if in two years he hasn't reached his promise then you would question in retrospect how good a decision it was but he's been fit, he hasn't been injured, he's been available and there's a couple of games where you've seen a bit of brilliance.''
"Dwyer said Cipriani had made his mark this season. ''They've certainly got some good value out of him,'' Dwyer said. ''I think he's looked a real quality player with the Melbourne team.''
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