Cipriani's punt leaves Edwards in a spiral

Danny Cipriani may be closer to agreeing a deal to stay on at Wasps, but if he continues to present opponents with soft tries by having crucial clearance kicks charged down then he may find himself having to reduce his wage demands by a significant amount.

In three of his seven England appearances Cipriani, 21, has presented tries to the opposition by having kicks charged down – against Italy, the Pacific Islanders and South Africa.

Cipriani's latest gift led indirectly to Harlequins being awarded a penalty try on Sunday. It was the second charge-down from his kicking in that match and had Wasps head coach Shaun Edwards grinding his teeth in frustration.

"It is becoming a real issue," said Edwards, who recalled two charge-downs that produced tries against Leinster – neither was by Cipriani, on that occasion the culprits were scrum-half Eoin Reddan and centre Riki Flutey. "It is partly because the clearance kick is happening too slowly, it is also because they are not kicking the ball high enough."

Edwards reckons that the underlying problem is in the type of kick being employed by players these days. "I think that drop punting is an effing nightmare, because it is much easier to charge down a drop punt than it is an 'old fashioned' spiral kick. We'll have to practise against people charging the kicks down. Maybe I will have to make them put their boots on the other way around."

Edwards exasperation is echoed by another club coach, Bristol's Richard Hill. "I totally agree with Shaun," said Hill. "It drives me mad to see people using the drop punt."

The drop punt has been borrowed from Aussie rules and essentially it is where the ball is held upright by the kicker so that his foot connects with the point of the ball. This sends it end-over-end to the desired target area with a high degree of accuracy and a predictable bounce, with the ball "sitting up" obligingly for a team-mate following up.

The more traditional spiral kick sees the kicker holding the ball on its side and at an angle of around 45 degrees across his boot, so that his foot connects with the "belly" of the ball, this imparts spin naturally, but it is less accurate and the bounce is unpredictable.

The drop punt is generally launched from lower down, allowing a would-be blocker to smother it early on and there is also, therefore, not such an inhibiting follow-through for a the charger of the ball to contemplate.

The spiral kick, in general, is launched from a higher point, making it a little harder to reach, but importantly the follow-through presents a possibility of injury to the would-be charger.

It has to be said that these last points do depend on the trajectory the kicker desires.

But when looking for ways to eliminate, or at least reduce drastically, the frequency with which a team has its kicks charged down, other factors need to be considered.

A team needs to decide whether it is safer for the scrum-half to kick rather than the outside half, thus nullifying the effect of the on-rushing opposition.

Also the scrum-half's service to the fly-half needs to be bullet-like and flat. It also helps if the kicker takes just one step, not two or three, to launch his kick, and finally he needs to use his feet to take evasive measures against the rapidly advancing opposition.

Yesterday England's kicking coach Jon Callard was positive: "It can be rectified. It is something I would certainly like to work on with Danny."

Callard, who coaches the senior England team and the RFU's national academy, works with kickers at all the Guinness Premiership clubs. Cipriani also works privately on his kicking with Dave Alred and is unlikely to come under Callard's tutelage until England reconvene next month.

Sale flanker Luke Abraham was last night suspended for two weeks after pleading guilty to butting Bath’s Alex Crockett in a match on 20 December.

Abraham appeared at a disciplinary hearing in Leeds. He was banned from 24 December (the date he was cited) to 7 January. It means Abraham will be able to play again on Friday 9 January in Sale’s Premiership match at home to London Irish. The player was given a two-match ban by his club after they had viewed a video of the Bath game, and so had served the RFU suspension to all intents and purposes.