England's back row with the Calcutta Cup. (Getty Images)

By Neal Collins

There's been plenty of downbeat stuff uttered after England's 35-13 win over Scotland on Saturday.

Complaints about the bagpipes and the rest before the game, complaints about the standard of the World Cup winners' performance, complaints about the kick-it-and-hope attitude of both sides.

But the most telling point came from coach Sir Clive Woodward.

He said simply: "We could have won the World Cup without Jonny Wilkinson."

And I think he's right.

Paul Grayson was magic on Saturday and so were so many of the players who didn't actually play in the final in Sydney last November.

This is an England side which looks set to dominate for years to come with players on the assembly line ready to stack up Grand Slams like Arsenal stack up Premiership wins.

It's so good to see an England side produce a win like they did on Saturday.

In the face of fanatical support from 67,500 and carefully-engineered pre-match tension (the Scots arrived on the field five minutes later than England and there were more bad songs that the average Eurovision song contest), they simply blew the Scots away to claim the once-tricky Calcutta Cup with blissful ease.

And they were nowhere near at their best.

No great stuff from Billy Whizz, a quiet game from the clever Will Greenwood.

But with stand-in stand-off Grayson filling his boots (and the injured Wilko's), the job was done by a side oozing depth and class.

Sure, some of the tries were a little ropey.

Ben Cohen, Iain Balshaw and Josh Lewsey all needed a little luck for their tries before Danny Grewcock's battering ram effort near the end.

And Balshaw made a bit of a hash of the Scottish try.

But hey, this was England's highest EVER score at Murrayfield, and Grayson's 15 points have taken him to within four points of Rob Andrew and second position in the all-time scorers' chart behind Wilko.

There's plenty to celebrate, especially with home games against Ireland and Wales to come before what promises to be the Grand Slam showdown against a very ordinary looking France in Paris.

Their 25-0 win against Italy was hardly awesome was it?

England doubled that tally, no problem, last week.

Woodward said all the right things afterwards: "I think Scotland played very well. We had a disappointing last 15 minutes but we won with a bit to spare.

"The defeat here in 2000 was one of the worst I have ever experienced. Murrayfield is a difficult place to come and win.

"It was a good spectacle, a good game, a credit to the Six Nations."

But it was Grayson who took the big pat on the back.

Woodward admitted: "Look, he's not Jonny Wilkinson but he controlled the game very well. And he's been outstanding.

"Wilko is the best fly-half in the world, but to have someone like Grays available is very important."

But there was no disguising Woodward's anger at the pre-match shenanigans.

He growled: "The two teams should run out together, then we should have the anthems. It's not a pop concert it's a game of rugby."

Amen Sir Clive.