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RFU confirm incident between Danny Cipriani, Mike Catt

“From my point of view, I will have to sit back and see how it unfolds”.

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England have played down what they described as a “robust conversation” which came about following a “misunderstanding”, and Cipriani also appears to have drawn a line under the incident as well.

England chiefs have denied that a pre-World Cup training ground spat between coach Mike Catt and overlooked fly-half Danny Cipriani left the squad on the verge of mutiny.

Cipriani wrote in the Sun newspaper that he has “a good working relationship” with Catt after the pair spoke the day after the incident, and Lancaster praised the 27-year-old’s maturity.

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.

England crashed out of the World Cup with a 33-13 defeat to Australia at Twickenham on Saturday, in the process becoming the first host nation to fail to reach the quarter-finals.

“There was no problem, but the reality is that things like that happen when there are a lot of players in camp”.

England’s performance will be the subject of an internal review by the RFU once Saturday’s final Pool A match against Uruguay has been played. Everyone is going to go out there and put their hands up and say “pick me”. The commitment and drive to put on the white shirt is still there.

“Sale Sharks are now my priority along with getting stuck into the season”.

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“I’ve conducted them myself in age grade teams and after every tournament or Six Nations”.

Andrew Couldridge

Danny Cipriani clashed with attacking skills coach Mike Catt during England training