Brian Ashton has endured a series of misfortunes during his career as England head coach, by way of illness and injuries to key players, but the latest withdrawal from his team is self-inflicted. Danny Cipriani will surely have a long and successful career playing for his country and it is a matter for debate whether his absence at Murrayfield will hurt England more than it hurts him.

The available evidence points to an unhappy conjunction of player and paparazzi at an hour that may be inappropriate for an international sportsman. But if all Cipriani was doing was delivering match tickets for England's game with Scotland to a friend, then the only inappropriate element was the venue for the rendezvous, a West End nightclub.

Had it been a night at the opera, would the picture even have appeared? Only 24 hours earlier, England players had been encouraged by their management to go out to a pub in Ford, just outside Bath, to develop their group identity over a meal in what could be said to be a traditional rugby way.

London Wasps, the player's club, made their feelings known with a statement critical of England's response to what they consider no more than naivety. They will almost certainly select him in their squad for the Guinness Premiership match with Harlequins on Sunday, in order to give him the support they feel the national side have not.

Although England have their own code of conduct, Cipriani was, it would appear, using his free time to help friends; he has told his club that he was there for no more than ten minutes, while he has no reputation as a drinker.

It might have been appropriate to carpet Cipriani, to emphasise that it is good for neither his image nor that of England if he is seen outside a West End club after midnight. A fine would have made the point, but to drop him from his first start, after two caps as a replacement, is heavy-handed in the extreme. More to the point, what do England do if and when a player does seriously misbehave, and how will this affect the relationship of a promising player and his head coach?

There is precedent on the first point, thanks to the tabloid sting suffered by Lawrence Dallaglio - another Wasps player - in 1999 that cost him the captaincy of his country and a hefty fine. Dallaglio bounced back and Cipriani, only 20, must now demonstrate his maturity and do the same.

It is tempting to say that, whatever tomorrow's result when the RBS Six Nations Championship resumes and however well Iain Balshaw plays at full back, Cipriani should be given his first start against Ireland at Twickenham the next weekend. Were Balshaw to win the Calcutta Cup single-handedly, that would be harsh indeed, but it would prove that Ashton considers the affair closed.

The restoration of Balshaw was not necessarily automatic, given that England also have Mathew Tait in the squad. The Newcastle Falcons back, normally a centre, has been told that England want to consider him as a full back but admits he is still learning the role. The switch also allows Charlie Hodgson, the Sale Sharks fly half, an England role for the first time in 15 months with his inclusion among the replacements.

Given that Balshaw has been full back in all three games so far, his return has the merit of simplicity. Phil Vickery, England's captain, referred this week to the demoralising effect of losing the first match, against Wales, and the impact that had on championship hopes; he was proud, Vickery said, of the way his players have recovered. He will be just as proud if Cipriani, his young club colleague, who was described yesterday by Dallaglio as “distraught”, recovers equally well.