England see off brave Scots

England ended their 2009 RBS Six Nations campaign with back-to-back victories as they reclaimed the Calcutta Cup with a 26-12 win over Scotland at Twickenham.

First-half tries from Ugo Monye and Riki Flutey, plus a late effort from sub Mathew Tait, helped avenge last year's harrowing 15-9 loss at Murrayfield.

The result follows on from their 34-10 triumph over France, though once again Martin Johnson's side produced a Jekyll and Hyde display.

England dominated the first half and led 15-3 at the break, a sizeable advantage that could have been even greater had it not been for some desperate defending from the Scots that William Wallace would have been proud of.

Pressure

However, just as they did against Les Bleus six days earlier, they failed to hit the same heights after the interval as Scotland threatened to make it 13th time lucky at Twickenham and ease the pressure on coach Frank Hadden.

At one stage the away team got within six points but, as has been their problem throughout the tournament, an inability to finish chances cost them dear.

England did manage to score three times in between falling foul of referee Marius Jonker, Monye getting the opener after 20 minutes to make it 5-3.

The winger had already shown off his blistering speed earlier on, though this time in defence, as he somehow got across to deny Thom Evans on the left.

Monye's marvellous cover tackle denied Scotland building on their early three-point advantage given to them by the trusty boot of Chris Paterson.

His fine finish at the other end kicked England into gear and, with the bit between their teeth, they managed phase-after-phase in attack as they knocked hard at the door.

Having held out in defiant fashion Scotland then gave away a gift, making a mess of a line-out deep in their own territory that ended with the excellent Flutey burrowing his way over.

The centre succeeded where both Flood, who had picked up the loose throw by Ross Ford, and the pack had failed in crossing the line, albeit only after the television official had judged the ball had been grounded properly.

Scotland threatened an instant reply when Mike Blair ran untouched down the middle of the field having superbly caught a spiralling up-and-under.

Eventually Delon Armitage stopped the scrum-half and the chance was gone when Phil Godman foolishly chipped over the top, rather than spread the ball to his left.

Flood fired over a penalty with the final play of an excellent first half for the hosts which was only tempered by injuries to Phil Vickery and Harry Ellis, the latter stretchered off the field after lengthy treatment for a head injury.

Bad habits

However, the almost-sublime turned into the ridiculous after the break, as Johnson saw his team once again slip into bad habits.

Flood was also on target with a penalty straight after the break, though Paterson's 15th straight successful shot at the posts during the tournament wiped that out and when Godman knocked over his first attempt, Scotland sensed they still had a chance.

Both Flood and Godman failed to add further points with the boot but Paterson did not make the same mistake from bang in front, setting up a possible tense final 13 minutes with the score at 18-12.

But Danny Care, on for the hurt Ellis at scrum-half, landed a drop goal to calm the home fans' nerves before Tait sealed the result in the dying minutes.

England worked the ball wide to send the super-sub over in the left corner, ending any hopes Scotland - who saw Hugo Southwell carried off - may have had of returning north with the spoils.