Sir Clive Woodward believes Brian Ashton was guilty of a serious miscalculation in dropping Danny Cipriani from the England squad that faced Scotland in the Calcutta Cup yesterday. England slumped to a 15-9 defeat at Murrayfield and former coach Woodward, who led England to a World Cup triumph in 2003, feels that Ashton made a "massive error" in his handling of the affair.

Cipriani had been set to make his first start for England, but was dropped in midweek after being pictured leaving a London nightclub in the early hours of the morning. However, Woodward has argued that Ashton's response to the affair reflected a lack of perspective and may have had an adverse effect on team morale.

"I think it was an over-reaction, a massive over-reaction and I think they have got that totally wrong," said Woodward. "Cipriani is a highly professional person and someone England should be building their team around. To me he has not done anything wrong. I think they made a massive error there. If I dropped every player who had not got to by bed by one o'clock I wouldn't have had anyone in the team. They had a big opportunity to put their arm around him one on one but no more than that."

Woodward was equally critical of England's ineffective display on the pitch, suggesting that major decisions lie ahead for Ashton and the coaching hierachy. "The overall performance was not just poor it was very, very poor," added Woodward. "It seems to me a bit 'cosy, cosy' for England. Wales have made tough calls and seem to have got it right and we have to up the ante. It is brutal, professional sport, and sometimes you have to make tough decisions."