My mum's single-minded dedication helped me get to the top in rugby, says England hero Cipriani

Cipriani was brought up by his mother Anne, a London black taxi driver, on the Lockyer Estate in Putney after his father Jay returned to Trinidad shortly after his birth.

The fly-half paid tribute to her commitment and determination as he reflected on a stunning first start at No 10 for England in the 33-10 win over Ireland on Saturday.

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Cipriani's mother was at Twickenham to see her 20-year-old produce a performance of amazing maturity which helped England finish second in the Six Nations.

After apologising for saying the "F" word live on BBC television, Cipriani talked about the charity work he does away from rugby that is inspired by his mother's devotion to his own sporting career.

Her scrapbook, charting Cipriani's success, is going to be filled very quickly given the amount of attention now being focused on the youngster who bounced back so well from the ignominy of being thrown out of the team for a late-night visit to a London club before the game with Scotland.

The London Wasps outside-half said: "It was hugely important that she was at the match and I owe such a lot to my mum. She is amazing and I hope that other mothers take note and realise it can work as a single parent. I am working for a charity that helps single mums do well for their children.

"My mum's been amazing because she's worked so hard to provide for me. I just want to make her happy and help her work not so many hours."

Having taken the No 10 jersey away from England icon Jonny Wilkinson, Cipriani can now expect to be offered the kind of lucrative sponsorship deals the World Cup-winning outside-half has enjoyed since that famous drop goal in 2003.

But for now, Cipriani has to focus on his "day" job — playing outside-half for Wasps, who face Leicester in the EDF Energy Cup semi-finals in Cardiff on Saturday.

Cipriani insisted that what he produced for England was merely an extension of his form for Wasps and explained: "I have been given the job of England outside-half and I cannot come in quietly.

"I know people write about me being arrogant but I have a job to do and if I go about it half-heartedly then it's not going to work. I had to make sure we were playing the right way and I learnt a lot from Eoin Reddan, the Wasps and Ireland scrum-half, and I made sure I did lots of talking."

The fly-half did thank his forwards for all their effort on Saturday and substitute and Wasps team-mate James Haskell told Cipriani today that he must remember rugby is not a one-man game.

Haskell said: "Danny could not have beaten the Irish on his own, even if he would occasionally like to think he could. I thought he was outstanding but it is not a one-man show."

The prospect of Cipriani — if he stays fit — now coming up against All Blacks No 10 Dan Carter this summer is mouth-watering with England finally possessing an outside-half with the skills to seriously worry the Kiwis with the ball in hand.

It was Cipriani's willingness to take the ball flat and play in the faces of the Irish defence that made such a difference and was in total contrast to the tactics employed in Scotland by Wilkinson.

The challenge for Wilkinson is to prove he can still be an alternative at outside-half and he is promising to take up the gauntlet thrown down by his young rival.

For captain Phil Vickery the final Six Nations performance has come as a major relief but he knows the two-Test tour of New Zealand is looming.

He said: "Now we've got the All Blacks — the best in the world. They set the standard but if we have ambitions to be the top team we have to take them on.

"Danny Cipriani isn't slow in coming forward and he's got a lot of confidence edging on the side of arrogance and that's a good thing. Now the challenge for him is to perform like that week in, week out and it'll be interesting to see how he copes with that.

"He'll have to be watching his back because Jonny will be doing everything in his power to chase him down."