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Danny Cipriani wins Premiership Player of the Month award

Rugby, Aviva Premiership

Gloucester fly-half Danny Cipriani has won the Premiership's Player of the Month award for September, despite being dropped by England coach Eddie Jones because of his form.

Cipriani, who has helped Gloucester to two wins and a draw in their first five Premiership matches, beat Exeter Chiefs players Sam Simmonds and Henry Slade to the inaugural award, which was voted for by a panel of experts and a public poll. 

The fly-half joined the Cherry and Whites from Wasps during the summer and was immediately involved in controversy when he was arrested on night out with his teammates during the club's pre-season tour of Jersey. 

But he made the headlines for the right reasons once the Premiership season got underway on Sept. 2, and shone in Gloucester's opening-weekend win against Northampton. 

Despite this, Cipriani was not included in Jones' 36-man training squad for a three-day camp in Bristol last month. At a press conference following the announcement, Jones said Cipriani had "areas of the game he had to work on" and was currently behind fellow No. 10s Owen Farrell and George Ford in the England pecking order. 

Gloucester head coach Johan Ackermann said he was delighted to see Cipriani pick up the award. 

"Danny has that ability to come in and ask questions, share ideas, and I think the players can see that he's a guy that studies the game and has a very good attention to detail," Ackermann said. 

"The main thing is for him to enjoy being at Gloucester and as a team we keep trying really hard to hopefully help his game as well."

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