England beat Scotland for the 15th time in 16 encounters this evening but their 35-13 victory in an untidy Six Nations encounter was one of the world champions' least convincing performances in recent seasons.
England led 20-6 at halftime after a disjointed first half. A try by Ben Cohen, after a lucky bounce, and one for Iain Balshaw with the Scots appealing for a knock-on in the build-up were supported by great goalkicking by Paul Grayson, who landed four out of four.
The scruffy nature of the match continued in the second half, Josh Lewsey claiming England's third try after charging down a Chris Paterson kick and Simon Danielli replying for Scotland after another fortunate bounce.
With the Scots down to 10 men after a yellow card for Simon Taylor, lock Danny Grewcock charged over for England's fourth try to keep the defending champions on course for back to back grand slams.