Johnson fears Scotland could ruin recovery

England aim to continue good form but manager expects tough battle from 'dangerous' opponents.

(GETTY IMAGES)

Yesterday morning in the reception area at Rugby House, the administration block next door to Twickenham, they had a video playing of Chris Paterson stepping up to take a pot at goal – and missing. After stepping outside to double-check that the world was actually still turning, it transpired that the tape was of Scotland's most recent appointment at what has for them been historically not so much a piffling House of Pain as a full-blown Hammer House of Horror. It was the 42-20 defeat inflicted two years ago, with Jonny Wilkinson turning the thumbscrews and racking up a personal tally of 27 points.

Whatever footage of Scottish glories past might have offended Steve Borthwick's sensibilities in the aftermath of England's 15-9 defeat up at Murrayfield last year, there will be no shortage of material to rub into Caledonian faces if the hosts have a victory to celebrate at the post-match dinner tonight.

Scotland have suffered 40-point gubbings, to use their own vernacular, on each of their last four visits to England's HQ. They have managed to win there just four times in 98 years, most recently on the afternoon of 5 March, 1983 – a 22-12 success for Jim Aitken and his side that was followed on BBC 1 by The Dukes of Hazzard and Jim'll Fix It. "I'll have watched the game on the box," Martin Johnson, England's team manager, said yesterday, struggling to stretch his mind back 26 years as he sat in the West Stand at Twickenham. "I can't remember the game, actually. I was 12."

Ah, but only just. The future World Cup-winning captain and totem turned 13 on 9 March that year. It will be some while yet before Johnson can confidently say that his England team have come of age, despite the sudden stamp of mature assurance which hallmarked their 34-10 dismissal of the French at Twickenham last Sunday.

In the meantime, as they prepared for their bout on the undercard to the main event on Six Nations denouement day, the red-rose camp could not hide the frustration that they have come good – or started to do so – with a bad sense of timing.

The pained feeling was articulated best by Delon Armitage, the London Irish full-back who has hit his straps with a vengeance, running into Lions form on a streak of three tries in three games – and into third place in the voting for player of the championship, behind Brian O'Driscoll and Sergio Parisse. "We all know that we've blown a massive chance," the one-time French Under-16 international said. "Even if we beat Scotland, it'll be that same gutted feeling, that we've let ourselves down and our fans."

Johnson was also lamenting the missing of the title boat. "We would love to be playing for the championship but we're not because we've not been quite good enough in our two away games, against Wales and Ireland," he said.

"We've missed opportunities to win games. Do teams have to go through those sort of experiences? Maybe they do. You try to win as many games as you can but it's a difficult thing to do. If you came in and won everything straight away, it wouldn't give you the satisfaction."

Joe Worsley having recovered from a split thumb and Toby Flood from a shoulder injury, Johnson had the satisfaction of confirming an unchanged starting XV. The England manager desisted from further fanning the Calcutta Cup flames following his midweek suggestion that the Scots would be heading south with "a chip on their shoulders" – he might have said that they would have a deep-fried Mars bar there instead. He was quick, though, to emphasise the keenness of the Anglo-Scottish rivalry.

"There's always a big edge to it," Johnson said. "That's the great thing about it. I enjoy all that. As a team, Scotland will have an edge about them. They haven't won at Twickenham for a fair while and that makes them dangerous. We need to be just as edgy and as dangerous as them.

"The way people are talking about the game it's as if we only have to turn up to win. That's crazy. We're going to have to play well. It's going to be a battle."

Two of the last three Calcutta Cup battles have led to the head coach of the defeated side losing his job. In 2006, it was Andy Robinson; in 2008, Brian Ashton. This time Frank Hadden's head is on the line in the latest production of Oh No Calcutta.

The former schoolmaster might have guided Scotland to two home wins against the auldest of enemies in the past three years, but he only has the one Six Nations victory on the board in 2009, against Italy, and he needs a second if he is to meet the Scottish Rugby Union's target for the championship.

Not that Hadden was in a gallows mood yesterday. "We think we've made progress during the Six Nations and we're determined to go out with a big splash," he said.

"We understand that we haven't won at Twickenham all that often over the years but that doesn't mean to say we don't believe we can do it this time."

The trouble is that Scotland have not won at any Six Nations ground other than Murrayfield all that often in the last seven seasons. Just the one occasion, actually. At the Stadio Flaminio in Rome during the 2006 championship.