England 38 Scotland 18: England ease to Calcutta Cup win

Without hitting the sensational heights of the historic win over New Zealand last time out here – how could they, really, against a Scottish team belonging to a significantly lower echelon of the world game to the All Blacks – England scored four tries to two to kick off the Six Nations' Championship with few wobbles along the way. A pivotal match in the seven-week tournament looms immediately when England go to Ireland, winners over Wales yesterday, in Dublin next Sunday.

Scotland's interim Australian-English coaching duo of Scott Johnson and Dean Ryan were unable to improve the team's dire record at Twickenham that stands now at four wins in 46 attempts, with none since 1983. Scotland's depressing home defeat by Tonga in November inked in the P45 for the previous coach, Andy Robinson, but the fault lines run deeper.

"Scottish rugby stands on the brink of a precipice," the former captain and totemic full-back Gavin Hastings said yesterday. Somewhere from a thin player base and a pair of professional Pro 12 teams they have to muster a XV of heart, searing skill, size and conditioning. The second of those qualities was there in the full-back Stuart Hogg and others, but the Scots' 30 years of hurt at England's HQ continued with a white-jerseyed pummelling at the breakdown and in contact.

England led with a penalty by Owen Farrell, but "statuesque" was the description for the England defending that followed, in a goose-bump moment for the Scots. A kick by Mike Brown sailed into the Scotland half with little in the way of a chase. A sign perhaps of the dreaded complacency after the heroics of December?

Whatever, Hogg was alive to the possibilities and ran hard and dead straight, about 10 metres from his right-hand touchline, to shoot between Brown and Dan Cole like a high-speed train through a cutting in the Chilterns. It obliged Alex Goode at full-back to be the buffers, and the opportunity looked lost for a second or two as Greig Laidlaw – Scotland's fly-half turned No 9 – and Sean Maitland took the ball. But a quick recycle restored momentum and Laidlaw on the short side popped Maitland over for the converted Kiwi's debut Test try.

Laidlaw's conversion was missed and England, though hardly rattled, suffered fumbles on the move by the debutant inside-centre Billy Twelve-trees, Tom Youngs and Dan Cole, while Geoff Parling had his hands full, or not as the case may be, keeping Richie Grant at bay in an intriguing tussle in the line-out. Youngs's brother, scrum-half Ben, was struggling to locate his runners sympathetically, but Twelvetrees's willingness and ability to launch attacks on the hoof showed what he has to offer England's midfield.