Rugby star Cipriani has trials with US soccer team

The career of England rugby player Danny Cipriani could be about to take a dramatic twist after it emerged that the fly-half is in the United States to have trials with Major League Soccer team the Colorado Rapids.

Although he found fame with the oval ball it could be that Cipriani, by all accounts a decent footballer, now fancies his chances of following in the footsteps of David Beckham and Thierry Henry by carving out a career in the American football league.

According to the Times, Cipriani left for Denver on Tuesday to hook up with the franchise - just three weeks before he is due to fly to Australia to join the Melbourne Rebels for the Super 15 rugby season.

Jason Gilham, the head of communications at the Rapids confirmed  that Cipriani was in Denver and also that he had trained with the team - owned by leading Arsenal shareholder Stan Kroenke - on Wednesday.

"He is keen to explore opportunities in soccer in general and with the Rapids in particular," said Gilham. Asked whether he though Cipriani might be looking to secure a contract with the club, Gilham added: "I think he is looking at that possibility.

"It is something that is being looked at from both sides. Danny is training with us and he is friendly with members of the Rapids coaching staff. We have a game on Saturday against Chivas USA. I don’t know whether Danny intends to stay for that. I don’t know his exact plans."

It is not the first time the former London Wasps player has flirted with a career change to football. As well as training for spells with Fulham and Tottenham, he linked up with QPR in August - purportedly for fitness reasons - joining in training sessions and even turning out for them in a reserve team practise match.

Speaking at the time Tim Sherwood, QPR's technical director, said: "If Danny has any interest in being a professional footballer, he would have a chance."

His actions appear to throw doubts over his impending move to Melbourne. The team sent an official to London last week to talk to Cipriani about his move and confirm that he was on board.

While Cipriani's spell with the Rapids could just be to kill time ahead of his move down under, it sends the wrong message to his supposed future employers. But Rod Macqueen, the head coach of the Rebels, said yesterday that he was convinced Cipriani was still fully committed to the cause.

"He is absolutely on board. We have not seen any evidence that he is not coming. We are expecting him in about three weeks," said Macqueen.

However, a source told the Times: "Danny does not know what to do. He is a maverick who changes his mind every day. From what I understand at the moment, in his mind he thinks he is finished with rugby, that he has hung up his boots and that he has decided to try to make it in the MLS. Tomorrow, though, it could all be back on with rugby." ·