SO the hurt goes on.

On the 32nd anniversary of their last victory at Twickenham, Scotland extended their winless streak to 17 games. They went down fighting, but the record books tend to overlook such things.

And England march on. They lead the RBS 6 Nations table with a points differential four better than Ireland's and 25 better than Wales. A thrilling final day is in store on Saturday, but the brutal fact of the matter is that Scotland will be bystanders. They could yet have a say in the destination of the championship trophy, but they will be up against an Irish side that will want to score a lot of points.

In fairness, England probably had that desire here as well, and Scotland deserve credit for keeping them at bay for long periods. Just not long enough. Long before the finish, it was clear this was not a day when history was going to be made.

England will question their attack. They made a dozen line-breaks but claimed only three tries - and one of those was a slightly freaky effort. They butchered two clear chances with forward passes. They might win the Six Nations, but they certainly do not look like potential World Cup winners right now. "We know we need to be better," said coach Stuart Lancaster.

Scotland showed that they were vulnerable to a well-formed driving maul, although they had tightened up considerably in that area since their disastrous performance against Italy two weeks ago. Stuart Hogg reminded us of what a danger he is in attack, but added a layer to his reputation with some heroic tackling as well. Finn Russell offered another demonstration of his central importance to the way the team wants to play.

In the forwards, there was also a splendid cameo by Euan Murray, who gave Joe Marler a scrummaging lesson. Blair Cowan put himself about effectively and energet- ically, and Dave Denton had some fine moments as well.

But still they lost. And the truth is that their stock is such that nobody really expected any other outcome. This is not a team that deserves to be ripped to pieces for their defeats, but those defeats do keep coming.

Beforehand, the talk was not so much about whether England would win, but by how much. England formed a brutal maul from the first kick-off, rumbled upfield and threatened a try until a knock-on deep in Scotland's 22 brought the move to a halt.

High in the east stand, a chant of "easy, easy" could be heard as they formed the scrum. And the truth of the claim was established a few minutes later, when England claimed a smart try. It came when Jack Nowell ran a loose kick back from his own half, England worked the ball though the phases and a beautifully timed pass from George Ford sent Jonathan Joseph scything through.

Scotland had scarcely touched the ball at that point, and we were bracing ourselves for a humiliation. Maybe it would have come had Hogg not pulled off a try-saving tackle on Mike Brown in the 13th minute, for that moment seemed to galvanise the Scots. They calmed down, strung together a few phases and soon began to ask questions of the England defence.

The reward came in the 22nd minute. Cowan and Tommy Seymour worked a clever line-out move on the left and the Scots surged into the English 22. They kept their heads and the ball and eventually opened a gap on the right. Greig Laidlaw floated a pass to Mark Bennett and the centre crashed over for his try.

England nudged back in front with an offside penalty three minutes later, but the tide had turned. Now, the panic was in England's ranks, as waves of blue shirts poured into their half. Triumphant braying in the stands gave way to quiet doubt, and then to lusty choruses of Flower of Scotland. The Scots were running the game.

Laidlaw drew his side level with a penalty in the 29th minute after Dan Cole had wandered round a ruck on the England line. It was a cynical foul and the English prop deserved to see yellow, but did not.

Another Laidlaw penalty two minutes before half time gave Scotland their 13-10 interval lead. But England rallied after the break, and the pattern changed again. George Ford scored a ludicrously soft try three minutes into the second period, added his conversion and then a penalty six minutes later. The Scots were defending well, but they had vanished as an attacking threat.

England closed it out with a try by Nowell after Scotland failed to deal with a penalty that rattled off a post. These things happen to a side on the back foot - and Scotland have been there a long time.

England: M Brown (D Cipriania, 77); A Watson, J Joseph, L Burrell, J Nowell; G Ford, B Youngs (R Wigglesworth, 66); J Marler (M Vunipola, 60), D Hartley (T Youngs, 51), D Cole (K Brookes, 66), D Attwood (G Parling, 51), C Lawes, J Haskell (T Wood, 66), C Robshaw (captain), B Vunipola.

Scotland: S Hogg; D Fife, M Bennett, M Scott (G Tonks, 40), T Seymour; F Russell (S Hidalgo-Clyne, 72), G Laidlaw (captain); A Dickinson (R Grant, 60), R Ford (F Brown, 60), E Murray (G Cross, 54), J Hamilton (T Swinson, 35 - 40; 47), J Gray, R Harley (J Beattie, 66), B Cowan, D Denton (A Ashe, 54).

Referee: R Poite (France). Attendance: 82,284