Ben Youngs insists struggling Scotland pose a threat to England's grand slam campaign when they play on Sunday.
Scrum-half insists Scotland pose a threat to grand slam campaign
England scrum-half Ben Youngs insists he and his team cannot afford to take struggling Scotland lightly in their RBS Six Nations meeting on Sunday.
Martin Johnson's men are chasing a first grand slam in eight years, but Scotland would love to upset their arch rivals at Twickenham and de-rail that campaign as well as take home the Calcutta Cup.
Scotland have not won at England's HQ since 1983, and Andy Robinson's men have hardly inspired confidence with three defeats out of three seeing them heading for a wooden spoon showdown with Italy.
England, by contrast, have beaten Wales, Italy and France so far in the competition, but even so Youngs has warned against complacency.
"They are very dangerous, they beat South Africa in the autumn and we got beaten by them," Youngs told
Sky Sports News.
Tough game
"Every game in the Six Nations is very tough and Scotland v England and the rivalry and everything that comes with it brings a bit of spice, and it should be great to watch and to play in it is a great honour and it is the sort of game you want to play in.
"A Slam is in sight but at the same time Scotland lie ahead of us. We are playing very well, we are in a good position but we know what challenges lie ahead.
"But we have enough talent to overcome the obstacles ahead of us, it's about performing at the weekend and having the right attitude towards the game."
Despite the win, Youngs was not happy with his own performance in the tight 17-9 win over France last time out, and wants to improve against the Scots.
"You have to keep working hard as an individual, there are areas I need to work on and keep improving and that's the main thing. No-one is every happy," he said.
Satisfied
"Chris (Ashton) scored four tries against Italy and there are things he was not happy with, and the things about this squad is everyone is moving in the right direction and everyone is putting the effort in to make sure we keep moving forward and keep up our momentum."
A win over the Scots would leave England with just Ireland to beat to secure a long -awaited grand slam - with their last coming in the same year they went on to lift the World Cup in Australia.
Youngs insists there has been no talk of this year's World Cup in the England camp so far, but a grand slam success would leave them nicely poised for a big challenge in New Zealand.
"We haven't spoken about the World Cup, but if we manage to achieve our goal of a Grand Slam it will give us momentum towards the World Cup," he added.
"But there is a long way to go between then and now and hopefully we can put in a good performance and get past Scotland."
