Martin Johnson admits England were made to work hard for their Calcutta Cup victory over Scotland at Twickenham.
England boss seeks improvement for crunch clash with Ireland
Martin Johnson admits England will need to play smarter rugby if they are to clinch the RBS Six Nations Grand Slam against Ireland.
The England manager saw his team scrape to a 22-16 victory over Scotland at Twickenham, with Tom Croft scoring the hosts' only try.
England can now earn their first Grand Slam triumph since 2003 with a win at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin next Saturday.
But Johnson, who was captain in that success eight years ago, has warned his current crop of players that they must cut out the errors that allowed Scotland to keep the score close.
Turnovers
He 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 the ground 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."
Disappointed
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.
"We owe the Murrayfield crowd a performance after the way we played here today. We want to give the supporters something to cheer about," Robinson added.
"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 the Scotland boss was that number eight Kelly Brown appeared to have recovered from the second-half collision with Matt Banahan which left him unconscious and carried off on a stretcher.
