Johnson tells England to improve for Ireland fight

Martin Johnson admitted his England side would have to improve significantly to clinch an RBS 6 Nations Grand Slam next weekend against Ireland.

The England manager saw Tom Croft score England’s only try as they struggled to a 22-16 victory against Scotland at Twickenham.

Victory in Dublin next Saturday would give England their first Grand Slam triumph since 2003 when Johnson was captain, a feat which gave them the impetus to win the World Cup for the first time.

Johnson said: “Our mistakes kept them in the game. There were too many turnovers. The second half started brighter but we couldn’t land the killer blow.

“We had three or four cracking chances to score and couldn’t get in. They hassled and harried and fought and got away with a few things at the breakdown. It was a mess at the breakdown which suited them. They knocked us out of our stride a bit.

“But we battled through and we won. It was a good fight. All the guys are pretty flat which is not a bad place when you have won four.”

Johnson, however, could be without captain Mike Tindall in Dublin after the centre left the fray at half-time with an injury to his left foot.

He collected the Calcutta Cup from Princess Anne, his future mother-in-law, at the end but left Twickenham in a protective boot and was due to undergo precautionary X-rays.

Johnson said: “There are a few battered bodies about. It was a pretty tough game.

“But it was not a bad game for us to go into next week. When everyone is telling you how good you are it can leak in a little bit. We’ve got lots to be better at. We’ll be in a fight next week. We know we can play a lot better than that.

“We’ve got to make sure we are a bit smarter the next time we play.

“Scotland came here to fight for their lives and they did. I’d be happier in a way going to Dublin next week off the back of that game rather than scoring a lot of points and having it easy today. It focuses everybody’s mind.”

Scotland flanker John Barclay was sin-binned in the second half after slapping the ball out of the hands of replacement scrum-half Danny Care, who had come on for Ben Youngs.

Croft’s try came just moments before Barclay’s 10-minute spell in the sin-bin was complete but Johnson had no sympathy with the Scots.

He said: “I didn’t really see Barclay’s incident. If you ask me they probably got away with quite a bit through the game. If you ask me they had it coming. Far be it for an Englishman to have a grievance.”

Jonny Wilkinson replaced fly-half Toby Flood in the second half and added a penalty and a conversion to Flood’s four penalties.

For Scotland Max Evans supplied the touchdown with Chris Paterson adding two penalties and a conversion while 21-year-old fly-half Ruaridh Jackson notched a first-half drop goal.

Johnson said: “We’ve got Wilko on the bench and that’s not a bad place to be. Banners (Matt Banahan) was outstanding.

“He gave us impact but we couldn’t quite land the killer blow. We had them on the ropes. They looked tired but we didn’t quite push them over the edge.

“They defended well and there were some good cover tackles. You have to keep on battling.

“We’ve won four from four in the championship. It will be good to go away for a real tough game in Dublin.

“We’ve had three on the trot at home, two of which we have been heavy favourites for. It’s good to go away and play Ireland, a very smart team.

“They will be smarting after yesterday. It’s a cracking game for us to play. We’ve earned it.”

Scotland head coach Andy Robinson was bitterly disappointed after seeing his side slump to their fourth successive defeat.

He said: “It was a very good Test match. We had to control the set piece and we didn’t. It was disappointing to lose John (Barclay) at that point.

“We are really disappointed. There was a huge effort put in by the players. They have put their bodies on the line and it was tremendous the way they went about the game.

“The guys have worked hard and it is important we keep on improving.”

Scotland face Italy at Murrayfield next week and need to win to avoid the wooden spoon.

Robinson said: “We owe the Murrayfield crowd a performance after the way we played here today. We want to give the supporters something to cheer about.

“We’re learning that sport at this level is won by small margins. At the moment the inches are stacked against us.”

The good news for Robinson was that number eight Kelly Brown appeared to have recovered from the second-half collision with Banahan which left him unconscious and carried off on a stretcher.

He also saluted some improved individual performances.

Robinson said: “Nathan Hines was phenomenal in his defensive work. Max Evans got himself into good positions, Jackson played well and I was really pleased with the drop goal he put over.

“There were some really positive performances.”