Centre Waters was the defensive lynchpin through the period in which Wasps won four Guinness Premiership titles and two Heineken Cups but was rewarded with a paltry three caps – including just one start – for his country.

And while Wasps contemporaries Phil Vickery, Joe Worsley and Simon Shaw are still going strong for the Red Rose cause, Waters is now plying his trade for Italian side Treviso.

There was a feeling that Sir Clive Woodward and his successors never quite appreciated how talented Waters was at Adams Park and now the 33-year-old fears history will repeat itself with Cipriani.

The controversial stand-off has been out in the cold for England since last year’s autumn internationals but Waters believes both he and his heir apparent at Wasps, Dominic Waldouck, should be brought in for the 2010 Six Nations.

He said: “Danny showed what he could do against Ireland and he needs to be managed well.

“He is a confident player and a confident bloke – they (England) need to work on him.

“At Wasps he has been there since he was 15 and brought up in that environment which allows people to develop as individuals as long as they don’t upset the applecart completely.

“The problems with England need to be sorted out because they need a fit and firing Danny Cipriani.

“His talent can’t be in question and England need individuals rather than robots.

“Dominic has got a lot of pace, he is strong, has got an ability to make breaks and most importantly for a team like Wasps is defensively strong.

“He keeps his feet on the ground and there has been a buzz at Wasps about him since he was coming through the academy.

“I am sure he would have got his first cap this autumn if he had not been injured – he certainly would have done a better job than those who played there instead.”

Waters has no regrets over his decision to head to the relative rugby backwater of northern Italy in 2008.

His departure from Adams Park was largely overshadowed by the retirement of Lawrence Dallaglio but their absence was jointly missed by Wasps who failed to qualify for the Heineken Cup last season.

With his contract due to run out in the summer of 2010, Waters thoughts are already turning to the future.

While former teammate Josh Lewsey is pursuing a career in the city in between scaling Everest, Waters is intrigued by the possibility of coming up against Shaun Edwards as a defensive coach.

He added: “I have always wanted to play abroad. I looked at offers in France and Italy and thought this is the last opportunity I will have to go and experience a different culture, a different lifestyle and different rugby.

“My contract is up to the summer of 2010, then almost certainly I am going to call it a day.

“I spoke to Josh Lewsey recently and he is not missing rugby a single bit and the City has been something I have always been interested in since I did my economics degree.

“But I would never say never to becoming a defensive coach. They are specialist coaches and it is something I know a lot about.

“There seem to be a lot of league boys in those positions so it would be nice to reverse that trend and maybe one day come head-to-head with Shaun.”