Banished ..and not even a Cip of cologne; Sport on TV.

Byline: ALAN McKINLAY

YOU have to question the state of modern English rugby, you really do.

From the proud days of Colin Smart downing a bottle of aftershave at the reception after England's Five Nations game in Paris in 1982 (a proper rugby exploit, naturally left unpunished), we now have a situation where our most promising player has been thrown off the squad for going to bed 10 minutes late, stone-cold sober.

Danny Cipriani's expulsion (Sky Sports News, BBC1, ITV1 and everywhere else) by ex-schoolmaster Brian Ashton, looks from the outside like the classic action of a school bully.

You can't imagine Ashton reacting the same way to Lawrence Dallaglio getting his head down a bit late.

At least Cipriani took his punishment with a lot more grace and style than the way it was handed out.

He says he has learned his lesson, and his history would suggest there's a good chance of that.

Cipriani's late night dalliance with model Larissa Summers became an embarrassment when it was revealed Ms Summers used to be a bloke by the name of Darren Platt. Now I seem to remember that sort of thing was once frowned upon by the rugby fraternity, both Union and League.

When asked about his future conduct after his assignation with Ms Summers, he said: "Well, it's best to make sure when I meet someone new that they're really a woman."

Now, if he can combine that with only operating in the hours of daylight, we may be on to something.