England's Under 21 side brought home just how much they have progressed since last summer's U21 World Cup, by beating Scotland 27-9 in their second U21 Six Nations fixture. Their victory at Stirling RFC reverses the result when the two sides met in the World Cup last June and also comes just six days after their convincing 57-3 success against Italy.
But, U21 manager Pete Drewett had no desire to dwell in the past.
He said: "Last summer is last summer. It's history. This is a totally new Six Nations campaign. It's our second game and there's still no tries scored against us which is encouraging."
England clocked up four tries in all. Ben Skirving of Saracens claimed the first two and Clive Stuart-Smith of Leeds Tykes and a member of the Senior National Academy, secured a third in the opening half to lead 22-9.
The highlight of a quieter second half came in the form of England's fourth try from replacement flanker Ben Russell, Skirving's club mate at Saracens.
Adrian Jarvis of NEC Harlequins who retained the No.10 shirt against Scotland converted two of England's four tries.
"We started very positive and took control of the game, but a series of technical errors allowed Scotland to stay involved and slowed down the momentum," said Drewett afterwards. "England's defence held strong despite the spirited Scottish attack. It was very much a team effort tonight, with a lot of spirit developing in the squad, but there's still a lot of work to be done."
Two players, London Irish centre Nils Mordt and Worcester's Tom Warren, made their debuts against Scotland to add to the nine new caps in last weekend's game against Italy.
SCORING SEQUENCE:-1m Adrian Jarvis, NEC Harlequins pen 0-3; 4 m Ben Skirving, Saracens, con Jarvis 0-10; 6 m Scotland pen 3-10; 16 m Skirving try 3-15; 21m Scotland pen 6-15; 24m Scotland pen 9-15; 36 m Clive Stuart-Smith, Leeds Tykes, try, con Jarvis 9-20; H/T 9-22; 38 m Ben Russell, Saracens, try 9-27.
Crowd 3,000+
ENGLAND U21:John Clarke (Northampton Saints); James Bailey (Bristol Shoguns), Chris Bell (NEC Harlequins), Nils Mordt (London Irish), Marcel Garvey (Gloucester); Adrian Jarvis (NEC Harlequins); Clive Stuart-Smith (Leeds Tykes); Nick Wood (Gloucester), Rob Hawkins (Bath), Wilson (Newcastle Falcons); James Percival (Worcester), Christian Day (Sale Sharks); Magnus Lund (Sale Sharks), Will Skinner (Leicester Tigers), Ben Skirving (Saracens), Reps - Stuart Friswell (Leicester Tigers), Tom Warren (Worcester), Tom Parker (NEC Harlequins),Ben Russell (Saracens), Richard Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks), Brad Davies (Gloucester), Henry Barratt (NEC Harlequins).
