James Haskell refused to talk about a possible RBS Six Nations Grand Slam after England struggled to a 22-16 win over Scotland.
The Scots arrived at Twickenham after a series of poor performances but pushed Martin Johnson’s England before a Tom Croft try sent England clear. But the win sets up a chance of a Grand Slam in Dublin, although Haskell, the man of the match, insisted it remained a forbidden subject in the England dressing room. “It’s a dirty word, we don’t like to talk about it,” he said.
England captain Mike Tindall, who received the Calcutta Cup from his future mother-in-law Princess Anne, added: “It still won’t be allowed to be discussed. It’s still just another game.”
Tindall, who came off at half-time with an ankle injury, was critical of the England performance. “Winning the game is the most important thing but we’re not happy with how we’ve played,” he said. “We started the game slowly and, credit to Scotland, they came after us and made it tough for us to win good, clean, quick ball.
“It’s good to see when you’re not playing that well you can still get those wins but Ireland will watch what Scotland have done to us at breakdown time so we have a lot of work to do.”