• Scotland v England, Six Nations, March 13

Johnson urges England to silence Scottish crowd

The spotlight is on Martin Johnson ahead of England's crucial Calcutta Cup clash © Getty Images

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Martin Johnson has urged England to feed off the hostile atmosphere that will greet them when they tackle Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.

England have struggled at Scotland's HQ in recent years, losing on each of their last two visits without scoring a try. But Johnson knows victory would not only keep England's Six Nations title hopes alive but also indicate a major step forward in the development of his under-fire team.

"The mindset has to be right tomorrow. We are going away from home. You have got to enjoy that challenge in playing in volatile situations because that is what you get into it for," he said. "Going away from home and trying to silence hostile crowds is what it is all about. It is like any away ground, the opposition will raise themselves.

"A lot of rugby is about energy, urgency, passion and emotion and we can't come second in that area. Then it comes down to execution and tactical thinking. That is the challenge whenever you go away from home, wherever it is. In the Six Nations all these games have their own history and the countries have their own history which makes it fun."

England saw their Grand Slam dreams ended by a clinical Ireland in their last Championship clash and Johnson has demanded use that disappointment to bounce back against the Scots.

"We only had ourselves to blame for the defeat to Ireland. To say we have to improve sounds insignificant, we have to find a way of winning Test matches," said Johnson. "You don't like to lose but that is part of the team's experience now. We will be better for the Ireland game. To sit in a losing dressing room after a Test match is not what you do it for, is it? It will be a tough Saturday evening if we lose up there. A team needs to have that conscience and that response and think 'right, we are not going to be sat there again'."

Scotland, without a win in this year's Six Nations, have suffered cruel losses at the hands of Wales and Italy in their last two encounters and Johnson insists that makes them a more dangerous prospect than normal.

"When you are in that position you will come out with ferocity but I think they will have done that anyway," Johnson added. "They haven't won a game, they are desperate to win. There will be that tension and ferocity around. They want to come off to cheers and a big win against England and their first win of the championship. We want to keep the crowd quiet and get our third win. That is the battle."

Scotland have now lost four games on the bounce following their heroic defensive effort in the autumn victory over Australia and the pressure is starting to build. Employing some classic diversionary tactics, Robinson has lofted a few grenades across the border this week - but Johnson is only interested in returning fire on the field. Robinson accused England of employing illegal American Football-style blockers in attack and assistant coach Gregor Townsend claimed they lie all over the ball at the breakdown.

But Johnson, a former gridiron player and huge fan of the sport, laughed of the allegation. "It is not a very good comparison," he said. "In American Football you have a lead blocker and the ball-carrier follows directly behind him. All teams use decoy runners. We haven't been penalised for obstruction. Townsend talked about us lying on the ball but we only gave away one penalty at the breakdown against Ireland.

"We are the least penalised team in the championship. We only gave away six penalties against Ireland. If you are guilty of an offence the referee will penalise you for it. The referee didn't say anything to me so I don't think it is an issue."

Robinson's England record adds extra spice to the occasion. He played in the 12-12 draw at Murrayfield in 1989 and then coached England to defeat in 2006. Johnson never lost to Scotland in 11 years as a player and he oversaw last year's victory at Twickenham. The two men worked closely, as captain and forwards coach, for England in the build-up to the 2003 World Cup triumph and on the 2001 British & Irish Lions tour.

Robinson was hardly fulsome in his praise of Johnson's management credentials earlier this week, claiming he has a good understanding of the game "from the second row position". But Johnson said: "It is not about me and Andy, it is England against Scotland.

"I had four years of being coached by Andy with England. There were lots of good times and some disappointing losses but they were happy days. He is as passionate a rugby man as you will find and good luck to him."

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