I personally don't have a problem with it, in fact I thought it was one of the better scenes between Ewan and Hayden. We don't see much of their "Friendship" and this scene really tries and I think suceeds in letting us know they are in fact friends. By cutting this, what other scenes really show this -"and he was a good friend". Everything else is pretty much teacher and student.
Trim it, but don't cut it. IMO