Danny Cipriani will be in Melbourne Rebels' 22 for Friday's match with the Brumbies after resolving his off-field issues with the club.
Englishman back in Rebels squad after off-field issues resolved
Danny Cipriani will be in Melbourne Rebels' 22 for their match with the Brumbies after resolving his disciplinary problems with the club.
Rebels coach Rod Macqueen claims all "issues have been sorted" after confirming that the former London Wasps back will make the trip to Canberra with the rest of the squad on Friday.
Season-ending injuries to Hugh Pyle and James Hilgendorf have created an opening for Cipriani, who last played for the Rebels in the 28-9 loss to the Waratahs in late April.
He was subsequently dropped for breaking a team curfew by going out with Richard Kingi in Sydney and was also suspended for the Rebels' two-week tour of South Africa shortly afterwards.
Speaking ahead of a training session on Tuesday, Macqueen insisted the time had come for all parties to move on.
"The issues have been sorted between his management and the (players) association and the club," stated Macqueen. "It's good to have him available for selection. He'll be in the 22 at least."
Asked whether there was a future for Cipriani at the club beyond this season, Macqueen added: "It's totally up to Danny. If he wants it, it's there for him."
Full-back Mark Gerrard revealed Cipriani had worked hard to recover his team-mates' trust after his latest misdemeanour.
"He's got no choice, does he?" said Gerrard. "That doesn't go (just) for Danny, that goes for all of us, we're in the same boat.
"We have policies in place and obviously Danny did break them.
"He missed the (South African) tour and that's a fairly significant punishment on the playing group's behalf.
Training hard
"He's been training hard the last few weeks to get back in the squad and that's something I commend him on and his attitude.
"He's gone out to the schools and rugby teams to help out... and that's something that we pride ourselves on.
"To have Danny back is great for the club and hopefully he can stick around for a few years to come."
Following last week's 40-3 defeat to the Stormers, a loss he described as the club's most disappointing performance of the campaign, Macqueen said it was important for the Rebels to sign off the season on a high with just two rounds left.
"Obviously we'd like to get some wins but it's really important to set ourselves up for next year and set ourselves up with a good foundation," he continued.
"We've been reasonably happy with a lot of things that we've done this year but we've also got to be brutally honest when we've failed and we failed very badly last week.
"What we're playing for is pride, more than anything, and playing for Melbourne and what the side's become."
