Owen Farrell’s unfortunate knee injury has reopened the debate surrounding England’s No10 pecking order. George Ford will start against Wales in the Six Nations opener next week but Farrell’s absence guarantees a vacancy on the bench in Cardiff. Northampton’s Stephen Myler is the front-runner unless Sale’s Danny Cipriani stakes an irresistible claim on the training ground or Alex Goode, an occasional 10 for Saracens, is preferred. But how do Myler and Cipriani compare in five key areas of their game?
Form
Cipriani has been enjoying a good season for Sale, helping to guide them into the top half of the Premiership. At his best he has looked as impressive as any England-qualified 10. His goal-kicking has not been entirely foolproof, however. With the experienced Myler at the tactical helm, Northampton lifted the domestic title last season and are sitting at the top of this year’s table. Without their first-choice 10 they tend to be significantly less effective, although Myler was powerless to prevent Racing Métro running over the Saints at Franklin’s Gardens last weekend.
Decision-making
One of the reasons Myler has been ranked third in the fly-half pecking order, ahead of Cipriani, is his calm game management. His strengths are his territorial kicking game, his organisational skills and his coolness in a crisis. “A lot of our good play comes through Stephen,” says his club’s director of rugby, Jim Mallinder. “He doesn’t always get the headlines but he’s always that main man behind our attacking play.” Cipriani plays a similarly influential role for Sale and took Ireland apart in an England jersey as long ago as 2008. If selected he will be keen to run the show.
Statistics
Cipriani has scored 112 points in 13 Premiership games for the Sharks this season, with a 73.2% goalkicking success rate. Myler has 137 in 12 league games for Northampton, succeeding with 73.7% of his goal attempts. Myler has now topped 2,000 points for Northampton since switching to union in 2006. In 144 Premiership games he has scored seven tries and three drop goals; Cipriani’s comparable stats in 112 Premiership games are 17 and six. Cipriani has won nine caps for England but has not started a Six Nations game for seven years. Myler has made a solitary Test appearance as a replacement in Argentina.
Defensive qualities
Neither man would claim to be Jonny Wilkinson in disguise but Cipriani has been working hard on improving his tackle success rate. His Sale coach, Steve Diamond, believes there is no risk involved in picking Cipriani for England: “He hasn’t been given a run in the autumn but you’d be foolhardy, in my opinion, not to see what he’s like against the other major teams in the Six Nations.” Myler grew up in the tough school of rugby league; his father played for Widnes and his great-uncle Frank represented Great Britain. His own Test experience, however, stretches to that one replacement cap.
Attacking flair
In terms of playing flat to the line and keeping the defence guessing, the 27-year-old Cipriani has a clear edge. “Cipriani is the only English No10 of the past 20 years who, if I’d been coach and he had been up for selection at the same time as Jonny, could have caused big selection headaches,” wrote Sir Clive Woodward last week. Myler is a different kind of player but this is more than just a simplistic debate about two individuals. England continue to seek the perfect blend in midfield and, with Ford starting at 10, it is their choice of centres which will reveal how they want to play against Wales. If Ford were to be injured early on, furthermore, Lancaster would be keen to have the safest available pair of hands as back-up. Which makes Myler the likelier bench choice.