Danny Cipriani’s brief reign as the new darling of English rugby looks likely to be brought to a halt today by Martin Johnson and his coaching staff, who were last night considering dropping the 21-year-old fly half to the replacements bench. The England team is to be announced at midday today and the name expected to be penned in at No 10 is Toby Flood, the Leicester half back.

This would be a controversial call from Johnson. Aside from his appointment of Steve Borthwick as his captain, it will be the toughest decision of his early days as the England team manager. Cipriani has performed far below expectation on consecutive Saturdays at Twickenham, but the mantra of the two defeats has been for the England players to learn from their mistakes. To deny a player of such undoubted talent that opportunity would be seen by many as a counter-productive move.

It would also bring criticism upon Johnson, who elevated Cipriani into the England set-up after five months out with a gruesome ankle injury and very little time to play his way back into form with London Wasps, his club.

A unfortunate feature of the England rugby set-up ever since they won the World Cup five years ago has been the revolving-doors policy with team selection. The inability of any group of players to settle together has stymied team development; if Johnson were to drop Cipriani so soon, it would indicate a return to the days of vacillation and uncertainty.

However, significant voices have been calling for Johnson to make the strong judgment call and give Cipriani a step back from the pressure of the front line. Mike Catt and Jeremy Guscott are the two most prominent former England players to have gone public since the South Africa match last weekend in calling for Cipriani to be dropped.

Guscott criticised, in particular, his defence; Catt said that he had lost his swagger, was standing too deep and needs to rediscover his confidence at club level.

The fact that two charged-down kicks in three internationals have gifted opposition tries is lost on no one. Johnson himself conceded after the record home defeat by the Springboks on Saturday that this had now become an issue that would be targeted by future opposition.

On the other side of the argument, however, lie several players including Will Carling, the former England captain. “I hate the idea that we should rest him to let him get his confidence back with his club,” he said. “That’s just the same as saying ‘Let’s drop him because he isn’t good enough.’ But I think he is.

“Stick with him. He shouldn’t be getting his confidence back at Wasps, he should be getting it every day and at every training session with England this week. I hope that’s what’s happening.”

Carling’s view is endorsed by Andy Gomarsall, England’s scrum half in last year’s World Cup final. “I don’t think it does you any harm to be dropped,” he said. “It’s brutal, it toughens you up and it focuses the mind massively. But should Cipriani be dropped? Not in today’s world. Yes, the media and public pressure can affect you — it certainly affected me when I was a younger player — but there is now such a professional set-up with England to help you through it.”

Both Gomarsall and Carling refer to the way young Test players are nurtured in Australia. “They wouldn’t drop him,” Gomarsall said, “partly because they don’t have the strength in depth so they couldn’t afford to. So instead they protect their players and groom them. I think we could do with developing that attitude.”

Carling said: “Look at Matt Giteau. When he started, he made all kinds of mistakes; and now look at him. He’s one of the best in the world.

“Everyone as usual is focusing on the No 10. If he had a pack of forwards winning good ball, that might be a concern. We’re asking him to play on the back foot against the best three teams in the world after only a handful of caps and look good. In fact, look brilliant. Give him a break. It’s not often you see genuine talent like his. For once, let’s recognise it and nurture it.”

England have added Ben Kay, the Leicester lock, to their squad in case Tom Palmer does not recover from a strained right calf muscle and will take medical advice on whether Andrew Sheridan (neck) and Riki Flutey (right hamstring) can be considered.