ENGLAND'S Calcutta Cup preparations were rocked when their star youngster Danny Cipriani was dropped from the team yesterday after being photographed leaving a nightclub after midnight when he should have been at home.
The 20-year-old was selected earlier this week to make his first international start at full-back against Scotland tomorrow, after twice coming off the bench in the current RBS Six Nations Championship. Cipriani is viewed as the successor to Jonny Wi
lkinson at stand-off.
England coach Brian Ashton selected Cipriani for the Calcutta Cup match, but the move was short-lived. Cipriani was photographed leaving a London nightspot after midnight yesterday, and the picture appeared in the London Evening Standard. Within hours of its publication, Cipriani was replaced in the England team by Iain Balshaw, with Charlie Hodgson called up to the bench.
Now former Scotland coach Ian McGeechan, who is Cipriani's coach at Wasps, has criticised the England management for their "very harsh" treatment of the youngster.
Cipriani insists he was contacted by a friend requesting tickets for this weekend's game and, with the England squad on a night off before flying to Edinburgh yesterday, he decided to meet his friend late on Wednesday.
He is understood to have arranged to meet his friend in a Dover Street club, and was photographed leaving the premises at 20 minutes past midnight, having apparently spent only 20 minutes there.
The RFU statement read: "Further to inappropriate behaviour by Danny Cipriani, England head coach Brian Ashton has decided to replace him in the starting XV for Saturday's fixture against Scotland.
"Danny Cipriani will not travel with England to Scotland. No further disciplinary action will be taken against Danny, but he has been warned and advised about his future conduct."
Ashton added: "The matter is now closed. I will keep an open mind on selecting him for future games."
It is not the first time Cipriani's antics have reached the news pages. He had a relationship with Monica Irimia, one half of pop duo The Cheeky Girls, but it was when it was revealed that he had taken a hotel room with a model called Larissa Summers that things turned embarrassing for the fly-half. Summers took it upon herself to report that their liaison was "fast" and "frantic", before the same newspaper revealed a week later Summers had begun life as Darren Pratt, becoming Larissa only after surgical intervention.
McGeechan responded to yesterday's incident by stating that Cipriani was naïve, but suggested the punishment was too strong.
He said: "We are hugely disappointed with the decision to withdraw Danny from the England team, and similarly disappointed for Danny himself.
"He had gone in (to the nightclub] to see a friend. He did not stay inside for any length of time and he was not drinking. He was at worst naive in his actions, but no more than that. Given the circumstances, a measured response was required and this is a very harsh decision."
Cipriani trains with sprint coach Margot Wells, the wife of Olympic sprinter Allan, and while the rest of the England squad were arriving in Edinburgh yesterday afternoon he was back under her tutelage for a sprint session, no doubt expending some pent-up frustration. Dick Best, the former England coach, insisted Cipriani's action would England supporters, but is hopeful that Ashton will recall him for their final game of the championship.
He said: "It is not the smartest move by Danny and he is probably very disappointed and upset at making such a foolish mistake. It is a massive wake-up call for Danny. It is really disappointing for the boy and for all the England supporters who were really looking forward to seeing him play.
"He is a tremendous player and you cannot afford to leave players of that calibre out of the team. I hope he is brought back in for the Ireland game."
The full article contains 664 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
