If Danny Cipriani does return to action a month earlier than expected, it will be the first piece of good news for London Wasps this season. The Guinness Premiership champions have yet to win a match, have a crisis at hooker and must wait until this morning to hear whether James Haskell and Richard Birkett, the forwards, will be available for Friday’s match against Leicester, their fierce rivals.

Haskell, the England back-row player, and Birkett, the experienced lock, appeared in front of an RFU disciplinary panel in London yesterday after being cited for foul play in the home match against Worcester Warriors nine days ago, but judgment was deferred after Jeff Blackett, the RFU disciplinary officer who chaired the hearing, decided to take further counsel with Peter Budge and Jeff Probyn, his colleagues.

Haskell is accused of head-butting Greg Rawlinson, the Worcester lock, and Birkett of stamping on Netani Talei, the No 8. Were either forward to be suspended, it would only add to Wasps’ woes, given that Raphaël Ibañez, the captain and former France hooker, is struggling to recover from the concussion he suffered against Worcester and Joe Ward, his deputy, hurt a shoulder against Northampton on Saturday.

So the possibility that Cipriani, the England fly half who suffered a fracture and dislocation of his right ankle last May, could be fit to play against Bath a week tomorrow offers a silver lining to the Wasps cloud. Nor are the champions involved in the latest cross-border spat that has produced a complaint from the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) to the IRB.

Frank Hadden, the Scotland head coach, named a bloated squad of 50 for training at Murrayfield yesterday, ten of whom are employed in England. But Premier Rugby Ltd, the umbrella body for Premiership clubs, instructed their members that there should be no release, so four players from Gloucester, two each from Northampton and Sale Sharks and one each from Saracens and Newcastle Falcons stayed at home.

“We provided these clubs with ample notice of this short training camp and usual custom and practice has resulted in our England-based players being made available,” an SRU official said. But every country involved in the RBS Six Nations Championship, and the IRB itself, has been informed by Premier Rugby that, after the accord reached with the RFU that became active in July, there would be a five-day release period only before every international match in the calendar but not outside those dates, to preserve the integrity of domestic competitions.

“We have made a formal representation to the IRB to resolve this matter,” the SRU said, to ensure that Scotland has a “clear understanding” of the regulations regarding player-release.