WASPS stand-off Danny Cipriani has been ruled out for six months with a fracture dislocation of his ankle and will miss England’s tour of New Zealand next month.
Cipriani got caught at the bottom of a ruck after being tackled by Bath’s Olly Barkley in Sunday’s 21-10 English Premiership semi-final playoff win and was given oxygen on the pitch before being taken to hospital for surgery.
The 20-year-old,
who gave a man of the match display, scoring 18 points in his first full start for England against Ireland in March, would have been first choice for the two-Test tour.
Newcastle fly-half Jonny Wilkinson, who lost his place to Cipriani at the end of the Six Nations, was ruled out of the tour in April, requiring shoulder surgery. England play New Zealand in Auckland on 14 June and Christchurch on 21 June in the first tests since Martin Johnson took over as manager last month.
Meanwhile, former Test centre Paul McNaughton has been appointed Ireland team manager through to the 2011 World Cup.
McNaughton, 56, is the first addition to the new Ireland management team following the appointment of Declan Kidney as head coach.
The pair worked together at Leinster, where McNaughton was appointed team manager in 2004, and will officially link up again in the build-up to next season.
Neither McNaughton nor Kidney will be involved in the preparation of the Ireland team for the forthcoming game against the Barbarians or the summer tour to New Zealand and Australia.
McNaughton won 15 caps for Ireland between 1978 and 1981 and worked in the financial sector before joining Leinster in 2004. He currently acts as a consultant and holds a number of non-executive directorships in investment companies.
The full article contains 304 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
