England play down Mike Catt and Danny Cipriani incident
Wednesday 7 October 2015 11:47, UK
England have confirmed there was a training ground incident involving Mike Catt and Danny Cipriani ahead of the Rugby World Cup but insist it was resolved swiftly.
The flashpoint occurred the day before England announced their World Cup squad in August and only hours after a disappointed Cipriani had been told he was to be omitted from the 31-man squad.
A report in The Sun claimed attacking skills coach Catt almost caused a mutiny in the England camp by threatening to end Cipriani's career and lampooning the Sale fly-half.
However, England insist the report is untrue and deny head coach Stuart Lancaster instructed his players not to leak details of the row.
A Rugby Football Union spokesman said: "Danny and Mike were involved in a robust conversation on the training pitch following a misunderstanding around a training drill instruction. Both shook hands afterwards and the incident played no bearing on selection."
England were knocked out of the World Cup by their 33-13 defeat to Australia last weekend and conclude their Pool A campaign against Uruguay at Manchester City Stadium on Saturday.
