England’s 73-12 thumping of the Barbarians at Twickenham on Sunday was generally of dubious benefit, writes John Payne.

Certainly, the reputation of the once-revered Baa-Baas took another monumental battering with the farewell of Harlequins legend Ugo Monye one of the few positives to take.

There were a dozen tries but a less than half full Twickenham to watch England was indicative of a glorified exhibition match.

There was one major beneficiary – Roehampton’s most famous son, the mercurial Danny Cipriani.

Handed a long overdue first start under Stuart Lancaster, the 27-year-old produced a stunningly mature performance featuring two tries of his own and a flawless kicking performance that brought him 33 points.

He may have George Ford and Owen Farrell above him in the fly-halves pecking order, but as indicated by the head coach afterwards, Cipriani’s versatility and overall quality was making him a difficult man to leave out of the final 31-man World Cup squad.

Within a matter of hours, all that work in producing a feel-good story was undone as Cipriani once again landed himself on the front rather than back pages.

We don’t know the full story behind Cipriani’s 5am traffic accident in Chelsea on Monday morning which led to his arrest on suspicion of drink-driving and subsequent bail.

But with Manu Tuilagi and Dylan Hartley already ruled out of the World Cup, former Quins and England hooker Brian Moore struck a chord when he tweeted: “There appears to be an idiot virus going around the England rugby camp at the moment.”

In a home World Cup, and the accompanying goldfish bowl that will create, Lancaster needs to be absolutely certain he can trust the players to behave both on-field and off-field.

Surely, ahead of the most significant tournament of their careers, it isn’t too much for Cipriani and the others to self-impose a night-time curfew for the next few months.