New Gloucester head coach sends warning to Danny Cipriani

However, the 32-year-old has been told to earn his place in the Gloucester line-up by new head coach – and former team-mate – George Skivington.

“I have talked to Danny and no one is guaranteed to play, and we are certainly not building a rugby club around anyone in particular.

“We have got a few players like Danny who do have something special to offer and it is important they buy into what we are trying to do and deliver the best version of themselves. If they do that, we are all happy.

“If things don’t work and we are not seeing the best sides of people, the team will pick itself.”

A keen all-round sportsman, Cipriani played junior football for Queens Park Rangers and was offered youth terms by Reading. He also played schoolboy cricket for Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Cipriani was invited to join Surrey County Cricket Club as a batsman^. He also played squash at county level

He first played club rugby at Rosslyn Park in Roehampton, where he developed his passion for the game.

The fly-half is mixed-race; his father is Afro-Trinidadian with some Italian heritage while his mother is English. Cipriani's father, Jay, and his mother, Anne, separated soon after his birth. Although Jay returned to Trinidad, Cipriani was able to remain in contact with him.

 Cipriani posed shirtless for a PETA "Ink Not Mink" ad, showing off his tattoos on behalf of the anti-fur campaign

The England fly-half  has previously dated high-profile models Kelly Brook and Katie Price. His love life has been a bit more low key since his most recent high-profile girlfriend TV sports presenter Kirsty Gallagher. The relationship fizzled out after six months in 2016. Other famous romances include Lindsay Lohan, one of the Cheeky Girls and briefly the late Love Island host Caroline Flack.

The England sporting pin-up was knocked out in a bust-up with club and international team-mate Josh Lewsey in 2012. The golden boy of English rugby was left nursing a bloody nose and cut lip following the incident at Wasps’ training ground in west London – and the session was allegedly abandoned.

Cipriani was arrested for drink-driving after the car he was driving was involved in a collision with a taxi at 05:15 on 1 June 2015. He was convicted after a five-day trial for drink-driving before Westminster Magistrates' Court on 24 June 2016. He was ordered to pay a total of £7,620 in fines and costs and banned from driving for 18 months.

On 15 August 2018, during a pre-season tour in Jersey, Cipriani was arrested after an incident at a nightclub in St Helier. He was charged with common assault on a doorman, larceny, assault on a police woman, resisting arrest and being disorderly on licensed premises later that day.

In May 2019 he was voted Player of the Year by the Rugby Players Association.

The fly-half was on £190,000 to £200,000 when he arrived at Kingsholm, which was a relatively modest wage for a player of his calibre and experience. It’s been reported that his latest deal with the club is closer to £400,000.

In February 2020, Cipriani revealed that he has suffered from depression since the age of 22 in an emotional video.