Jonny Wilkinson, the most recognisable face in English rugby, was left out yesterday from the team to play Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday. The Newcastle Falcons fly half, whose dropped goal won the World Cup final against Australia in 2003, was himself dropped after the miserable display against Scotland last weekend. Danny Cipriani takes his place.

Brian Ashton said before the start of the RBS Six Nations Championship that no individual was an automatic selection. The head coach has proved as good as his word by preferring Cipriani at No 10, the only change to the starting XV and the first time that Wilkinson has been overlooked since Clive Woodward selected Paul Grayson ahead of him for the 1999 World Cup quarter-final against South Africa, which England lost.

Wilkinson, 28, who set the world points-scoring record during England’s defeat at Murrayfield, has been named among the replacements and accepted the decision with admirable fortitude. “Obviously, on the surface, I am disappointed because I care about things and because you always feel you can make a contribution,” he told The Times last night. “But you cannot think: what about me? You cannot wallow. You won’t catch me dropping to my knees and pondering some personal disaster.”

Ashton said the decision was made because of Wilkinson’s inconsistent form and his desire to give Cipriani a start in the championship, which concludes this weekend. “Jonny’s reaction was very professional and he trained particularly well this afternoon,” he said. “For me it’s just another selection decision, but I suspect for people outside the immediate squad it will be momentous for a variety of reasons. I can’t control that.”

Wilkinson fought his way back into the England team last season after a career-threatening series of injuries that would have devastated a lesser individual. In his absence, however, another generation of young fly halves has arrived, of which Cipriani is the youngest but arguably boasts the greatest potential.

Last Thursday, Ashton dropped Cipriani, 20, from the team to play Scotland after he was photographed leaving a West End nightclub after midnight. That one-match suspension, Cipriani said, taught him a valuable lesson.

“I’m not going to change who I am off the field but I’ll try and change the situations that occur,” he said. “No one can replace Jonny, as a person or a player, because of what he’s doing and what he has done. I’ll come in and do my best, do what I’ve been doing for London Wasps. I’ll try and bring a bit of youth, a bit of spark.”