Stars must prove worth on field

Oct 2 2008 by Alex Turner, Liverpool Daily Post

DANNY Cipriani is fast becoming the best known rugby player in the UK but it’s not immediately clear why.

There is the small matter of dating Kelly Brook, the actress and presenter, which has excited the paparazzi in recent weeks.

But his claims to superstardom based on his rugby are less obvious.

He has not played enough games for anyone to judge his abilities, either for his club or his country, and he is only 20 and has been out of action with injury for four months.

He is a good prospect, no doubt about it, and, after a few more seasons of regular games, it will be possible to make a judgement about how good he is, but the current level of Hello! magazine style hysteria about his return to play for Wasps is just daft.

It is a pity because it shows again how debased our sporting coinage is becoming. It is now very difficult to distinguish between those sportsmen who are the genuine article and those who are counterfeit but pumped up by agents and advertising.

I do however have one foolproof way of testing for fakes. If you have seen more photos of a so-called sporting legend surrounded by glamorous young women than you have of them actually playing whatever game it is that they are so good at, your alarm bells should start to ring.

Just apply that test to any of the following – Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Lance Armstrong – and you will quickly get my drift.

It is not Danny's fault and I imagine his bank account looks better than anything on Wall Street, but it will not make him a better player and I hope that he has someone reminding him that whatever the fashion pages show, it is what he does on the field that really counts.