England will head to Dublin on St. Patrick's weekend looking for back-to-back Grand Slams after dominating Scotland 61-21 at Twickenham on Saturday.
The Scots got off to the worst possible start when Fraser Brown was yellow carded for a needless late dump tackle on Elliott Daly. The Englishman had to go off for treatment while the Scot received 10 minutes in the bin.
England took immediate advantage of their numerical superiority and Jonathan Joseph cut through a hesitant visiting defence and dotted down under the posts to give the home side the perfect start. Farrell converted to make it 7-0.
England's Jonathan Joseph celebrates scoring. Inpho: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
There was a spark about England who ran from everywhere and another Farrell penalty stretched the score to 10-0.
Scotland had an opportunity to stem the tide when Maro Itoje was pinged for a high tackle only for Russell to miss touch and let England off the hook.
Moments later Stuart Hogg ripped the ball off Courtney Lawes which led to a period of Scottish pressure only for their one dimensional play to reduce them to an attempted drop goal which was ultimately blocked. Scotland initially retained possession but England turned it over moments later.
England made their way up the field again and were awarded yet another penalty which Farrell converted to make it 13-0.
It was a case of Murphy's Law for the Scots when Hogg went off for a HIA and his replacement, Mark Bennett, was then stretchered off with an ankle injury.
England were relentless and Joseph was sublime in open play slicing the Scottish defence apart at will. He got in for his second try in the 24th minute with Farrell adding the extras to make it 20-0.
Vern Cotter's men didn't let their heads drop and a period of pressure in the England 22 eventually saw Gordon Reid power over from close range with Russell converting.
Scotland's Gordon Reid scores a try. Image: ©INPHO/Billy Stickland
England continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over and Farrell added three more points after Johnny Gray was pinged at a maul.
Joseph again cut through the Scottish defence but passed to Watson who dotted down with Farrell converting to make it 30-7 at the interval.
The second half resembled more of a 7s game and Joseph ran in his hat-trick try just after the restart which really killed any realistic chance of an unlikely Scottish comeback. Farrell converted and then added another penalty shortly after to make it 40-7.
Huw Jones dived in in the corner after the visitors spread the ball wide and Russell converted to bring it back to 40-14.
Billy Vunipola returned to the fold after missing the opening three games through injury and made an immediate impact stretching the lead to 47-14 after Farrell again converted.
England's Danny Care scores his second try. Image: ©INPHO/Billy Stickland
Huw Jones got in for another try to bring a level of respectability to the scoreline before Danny Care dotted down for two late tries to bring the final score out to 61-21.
England now head to Dublin next weekend looking for back-to-back Grand Slams and a world record 19th consecutive win in a row.
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