Former England head coach turned Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has struck back at Danny Cipriani following statements the former flyhalf has made in recent days.
Labelling Cipriani’s comments as “absurd, fabrication and f****** nonsense”, Jones said he wasn’t taking Cipriani’s points too seriously.
Firing back, Jones said to the Daily Mail that he found the 35-year-old’s comments sad.
“We didn’t have a close relationship, so I’m hardly going to engage in a conversation like that with him.
“To be quite frank, it’s a complete fabrication. We didn’t select him. When players don’t get selected, they always have an axe to grind – we know that.
“He’s selling a book, so nothing surprises me when players want to sell books. It’s absurd. It’s almost too absurd to talk about. I think it’s very sad for him that he feels he has to make something up to sell his book.”
Referencing a quote from Cipriani’s book where he alleges Jones made a comment about an alleged relationship that the former Wasps player had with Scottish TV presenter Kirty Gallacher. According to Cipriani, the Wallabies boss said to him, “Mate, doesn’t Kirsty Gallacher live around here? Haven’t you shagged her? What’s she like?”
Jones shot back by saying, “That’s hardly the sort of language I would use. It’s not how I speak to players. In all the years I’ve coached, there would be very few conversations like that with players.
“It’s not to say I haven’t had a conversation like that, but there would have been very few – and certainly not with Cipriani.”
Cipriani won the last of his sixteen international caps under Jones in England’s 2018 tour of South Africa. A game in which he performed exceptionally from the bench as England secured a notable 25 – 10 victory.
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