There was never any danger of what happened in Jersey cowing Danny Cipriani. The England fly-half marked his competitive debut for Gloucester by showing typical virtuosity, influencing the match not through the quantity of his output but its quality.
He was the catalyst for Gloucester’s two first-half tries, often standing at second receiver to give him more time to deal with Northampton’s line speed and manoeuvre runners into space without ever being quixotic. The second was quintessential Cipriani who, for all his sense of adventure is not an adventurer. Realising he had a free hit with advantage being played after the home side’s superior scrum had yielded another penalty, Cipriani drew defenders inside the Saints 22 before exploiting their narrowness with a 25-metre pass that took them all out and gave Charlie Sharples a run-in.
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The England head coach, Eddie Jones, who will on Wednesday speak for the first time about Cipriani’s appearance before magistrates in Jersey on a charge of common assault, was among the spectators, a few days after he had suggested to the head of referees at Twickenham, Tony Spreadbury, that there should be a greater contest for possession at the breakdown in the Premiership. Spreadbury’s neutral reply was that the law would be enforced.
Two minutes in, when the Northampton prop Alex Waller contested for the ball on his feet after a tackle, he was entitled to think he would be given the extra time allowed in the Pro 14 and Test arena with Gloucester slow to support. He was not, penalised instead to present Billy Twelvetrees with the first three points of the game.
Spreadbury saying the law must be observed is all very well, but was Waller breaking a rule or was the offence the tackled player not releasing? The point Jones has been trying to make is that different competitions regard some infringements as more worthy of a penalty than others: how many attacking players were penalised in the Premiership last season for entering rucks from the side, something that was invariably a penalty if committed by a defender?
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The interpretation was to work for Northampton later in the half when Ruan Ackermann and Val Ruskin were penalised for competing for the ball while not supporting their body weight and far more counterattacking opportunities came from handling errors than jackalling. It made for a game when risk was not always rewarded, but considering the playing and coaching upheaval at Northampton in the close season and the radical change Johan Ackermann has brought to Gloucester there was no lack of structure.
Chris Boyd’s early influence on Northampton was to move Luther Burrell from inside-centre to 13 and arm the fly-half, Dan Biggar, making his Premiership debut, with a midfield playmaker in Piers Francis.
Gloucester had Cipriani and Twelvetrees and at a period in the game when there is emphasis on passing and width rather than boshing and kicking, the contrast with Bath the previous night was graphic.
Bath had struggled to get the ball to the wings without a playmaking 12 but here Cipriani and Biggar often acted as second or even third receivers, scenting space and putting players through it. The position for Gloucester’s first try was created by Cipriani who, standing outside Twelvetrees at a lineout, sent Jason Woodward on an outside-break. One penalty kick to touch later, Ed Slater’s take turned into a try for James Hanson.
Northampton were shaken and stirred into action. Biggar, a fly-half who likes to immerse himself in everything, rather than wait for his moment like Cipriani, kicked a penalty on 11 minutes and saved a try later in the half with a cover tackle on Matt Banahan. He stood flat and directed his attack but he fluffed three restarts and missed two conversions. “He is grumpy because he sets himself high standards,” said Boyd, Northampton’s new director of rugby, whose chief concern was the number of penalties, 17, conceded by his side.
Northampton recovered to level in the first half, Biggar’s second penalty following a Francis try created by Ahsee Tuala who flattened two tacklers, but Sharples’s try gave Gloucester a 21-11 interval lead.
The second period was flatter, Gloucester keeping their opponent’s at arm’s length, two Twelvetrees penalties countered by a Courtney Lawes try from a driving lineout after Tom Hudson had been sent to the sin-bin. The Saints, who gave Dylan Hartley 40 minutes in two spells from the bench, were denied a late try, and a bonus point but their tanker is on the turn.