England legend Will Carling has pulled the plug on his plan to manage English star Danny Cipriani because he believes the Wasps fly-half has lost his desire to play for his country.

Carling, who captained England to three Grand Slams during the 1990s, wanted to help Cipriani get his international career back on track and has spent the last six weeks in talks with the 22-year-old.

Cipriani won his last England cap against New Zealand in 2008 and has been restricted to the second-string Saxons since then.

His club future is also up in the air as his Wasps contract expires at the end of this season and the club will announce next week whether he features in their plans for next season.

Cipriani has been in contact with the new Super 15 franchise Melbourne Rebels, a move that would halt his international career, and Carling fears the player has lost his desire to reclaim the England number 10 jersey.

Carling wrote on his blog at Rucku.com: “The reason the whole concept appealed to me was that I believed here was a guy with a special talent, who desperately wanted to play for England, and maybe I could help him work things through with Wasps and England, as I know the key personnel in both camps.

“I have spent the last six weeks trying to focus Danny and, without laying the blame at anyone’s door, the main reason that I have decided not to go ahead is that I do not believe that Danny’s focus is on playing for England.

“That and that alone was my main motivation for getting involved with him. It is not about money and certainly not about profile, it was about helping him earn the England number 10 shirt.

“And, rightly or wrongly, I have concluded that his desire to earn that shirt is not as strong as I want it to be and as strong as it needs to be.”

Carling consulted England manager Martin Johnson, Wasps head coach Shaun Edwards and former internationals Josh Lewsey and Matt Dawson during the process.

He added: “I sincerely hope that it is not a talent that is never fulfilled in an England shirt but I worry that might be the case and I just hope that sometime soon Danny focuses on England and the hard work that will be necessary to earn his place in the team.”

© AFP 2012

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