IT wasn’t supposed to be like this, counting down the last days of Danny Cipriani’s career in English rugby in only his 23rd year. He was meant to be the future of the Red Rose game, the player around whom…

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IT wasn’t supposed to be like this, counting down the last days of Danny Cipriani’s career in English rugby in only his 23rd year.

He was meant to be the future of the Red Rose game, the player around whom Martin Johnson rebuilt the England team ahead of next year’s World Cup.

The fly-half with whom Wasps rediscovered their mojo and returned to the business of stock-piling trophies.

When Cipriani wowed the rugby world with his sensational full debut for England against Ireland two years ago it should have been just the start.

Instead it turned out to be the beginning of the end – at least for the foreseeable future.

Eighteen points in a perfect goal kicking display at Twickenham, as well as a hand in all three tries scored that day, marked him out as something special.

As the national stadium acclaimed a 33-10 victory and the birth of a new star, nobody would have predicted he would win only four more caps.

Injuries, in the form of two broken legs, have badly hampered his progress. But so too has his relationship – or lack of it – with England’s hierarchy.

The upshot is that at Newcastle on Saturday Cipriani plays his last game for Wasps – unless Leeds cause a massive shock by winning at Bath, thus opening the door to the play-offs for the Londoners.

He will then say his goodbyes and quit English rugby for two years’ self-imposed exile in Australia, playing for Super-15 new boys Melbourne Rebels.

Good riddance, those who don’t care for his attitude will say – and there are a good few. Others, who resent him for no other reason than jealousy (he dates actress Kelly Brook), will concur.

England won’t offer an opinion publicly. They don’t need to. Their silence speaks volumes. The management have not fallen over themselves to persuade him to stay.

How sad all of this is. And how preventable, had he been offered sound, responsible guidance by his so-called advisors.

Four days after his England masterclass against Ireland, Cipriani recognised the potential pitfalls that lay ahead of him.

“Rugby is my job and it’s what I need to be focused on mostly,” he said. “As soon as you lose sight of what your main focus is, which is playing, that’s when things go downhill.”

Too true, yet here he is down the bottom of that hill. He is miles away from England selection and last week he couldn’t even get a start in his final home game for Wasps.

It is correct that he has an ability to rub people up the wrong way, be they team mates, England coaches or opponents whose hands he has declined to shake.

In the ultimate team sport he can come across as too much of an individual; a guy who thinks he knows it all when, at his age and level of experience, he cannot possibly.

But that happens when you fulfil so many of your sporting dreams at such a young age. When you pocket a European Cup winners’ medal as a teenager, your first England cap as a 20-year-old and a Premiership title before you turn 21.

Since then Cipriani has, in relative terms, under-achieved on the pitch whilst being over-exposed in the media. We must all take a share of the blame for that.

The bottom line is that he remains one hell of a talent. And England’s failure to find a way to straighten him out and harness his gifts reflects poorly on those involved.

Both parties are at fault and the refusal of each to take even a step towards compromise has brought us to where we are today – preparing for farewells.

Let’s hope the next two years give Johnson, Cipriani and the player’s advisors time to reflect on where it all went wrong.

So that when Danny Boy returns from Melbourne he is the guy we all hoped he would be – a playmaker around whom England’s 2015 World Cup challenge can be built.

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