Swing low, dull chariot.....

Yet Scotland came away with a 15-all draw with the feeling amongst both players and management that they had blown a great chance to beat England.

It wasn't a great eye-catching spectacle like the Irish and French attacking play was last week, but a riveting contest nonetheless as we waited to see which side would blink first as the battle of the forward packs raged on.

But should the game have even to stooped to such a level? Scotland have an excuse. The last three campaigns under Frank Hadden saw a lack of invention, solidity, good results and a battering of confidence.

Andy Robinson has been slowly rebuilding that in his short time in charge so far. While the Six Nations table has us propping it up, the Italy game aside, Scotland have actually played some good stuff at times and have looked far more likelier to make something happen. Put simply, they could have had two wins to their name going into this week's finale in Ireland.

France were simply too good for Scotland in round one. Crazy refereeing, an act of reckless by Scott Lawson and some unpunished cheating from Lee Byrne saw them blow that match in Cardiff. Italy? Vaf....... with nobs on with regard to that performance which saw us get the type of stuffing a tourist receives at a Venetian restaurant. While against England..... a draw is better than nothing but the way our visitors were playing has this one down as a glorious chance missed.

Robinson praised England's defence but yet again, the inventiveness was lacking when in their 22. Why are France top of the table? Why are Ireland in second spot? They both have the craft to create chances and have been ruthless in taking them. Had England been facing a team in royal blue or green, they would indeed have been sent homeward to think again.

But with resources somewhat limited compared to England's treasure trove, in the cold light of day, a draw could be seen as some sort of achievement - albeit a pyrrhic one given that a win was there to be snatched.

However, if Scotland had England's resources at their disposal there would be more cause for concern. While their coach Martin Johnson also lamented a chance lost (to be fair they had their opportunities too), he at least recognised that his team could have been embarrassed at Murrayfield.

An English journalist commented to Robinson in the post-match press conference of how the game was not an entertaining one to watch. Right viewpoint but the wrong coach to express that to.

Robinson I'm sure would love to send a team out to play champagne rugby a la France. Meagre resources and having to rebuild the house Frank knocked down means an alternative gameplan that would hopefully set a platform to play the type of game one day which the purists would love to see.

But what is Johnson's excuse with regard to England? Is their unwillingness to cut loose their backs, to not select on-form players and instead pick 'good blokes' like Steve Borthwick, an unwillingness to concede that some players are past it (Jonny Wilkinson) or all fur coat and no knickers (Delon Armitage) and an obsession with a tactic that once worked all his fault? Or is it something in the English character which is resistant to change? Let's have a look at a footballing example.

Forty-four years ago (and you will be reminded of this by ITV come this summer's football World Cup - trust me) England became world champions with a 4-2 win over West Germany. Manager Alf Ramsey's team were famously known as the wingless wonders which abandoned any form of flair and relied heavily on caution first.

It worked. Other teams could not find an answer to it at the time and England won the World Cup. However, adopting the 'if it aint broke don't fix it' approach, Ramsey had changed little come their defence of the title in Mexico four years later. Other teams meanwhile had gone back to the drawing board and sought to explore ways into breaking down Ramsey's system. Brazil exposed it and but for the skill of Gordon Banks and Bobby Moore, they would have won by more than Jairzinho's goal. The Germans had learned from 1966. After all, they were the one team that nearly scuppered England's finest hour only this time round, they succeeded with a quarter-final knockout. English football proceeded to tumble into a decade-long decline on the international stage.

In rugby, England win the World Cup in 2003 with a gameplan which - and let's be brutally honest here - would have cured insomnia. It worked and credit to them. Yet, like the example above, the rest of the world went back to their drawing boards and devised ways to ensure they would not get sucked into the trap laid out by then-coach Clive Woodward. The battering they received on their tour of New Zealand the following year was a huge warning sign that they had to revisit the format and advance it.

Woodward didn't. Our own man Robinson when he was in charge didn't. Brian Ashton didn't. And Martin Johnson - Woodward's captain in that 2003 success - hasn't.

Admittedly, they did reach the final of 2007 with the same tactics but the two losses they endured against South Africa (the group game resembled the Tommy Hearns v Dennis Andries fight while the final was akin to the third Sugar Ray Leonard v Roberto Duran bout) showed that up against a more advanced strategy, they would be lagging behind.

Johnson is obviously of the belief that because it worked when he was captain under Woodward it must surely work again? Wrong. The game has moved on with sides like New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland showing that if you can match England in the forward battle, the game is yours if your backs are ready to strike.

Had Scotland's backs been sharper and had Italy's backs been sharper, England might well have been going into this Saturday's match in Paris needing a win to avoid a potential wooden spoon. Instead they have a chance of finishing second should they win and Scotland do likewise in Dublin.

This would paper up the cracks because for a nation with a plethora of rich talent at their disposal, being reduced to grinding out a point against Scotland, clinging on for a win over the tournament rookies that are Italy and being brutally exposed by Ireland's Floyd Paterson-esque counter-punching, is at best peculiar.

At worst it is embarrassing.

Should the game in France go to form and Les Bleus give their guests a Joan D'Arc style hammering, the knives will no doubt be out for Johnson.

Football management legend Brian Clough once stated that if a chairman sacks his manager, then he - having appointed said gaffer in the first place - should go too.

Johnson may well end up as the convenient fall guy. Given that he will be Director of Rugby Rob Andrew's third coach to be dismissed, questions must also be asked of his boss.

With their stature in the game, the 'Auld Enemy' should be alongside the All Blacks and Springboks in being one of the most feared nations in rugby. The fact that in this year's tournament, Scotland, Italy and Ireland were not scared of them speaks volumes.

If France turn up on Saturday night and inflict a defeat as humiliating as the siege of La Rochelle was for a previous English force, the "it worked in 2003" defence will simply not stand up.