Why the cupboard's bare when it comes to home-based talent; John

There's a case for the defence to be had after yesterday's game, isn't there? Scotland's defence was cruelly exposed at times by ruthless England, and we didn't have the game breakers to really create holes in the middle or attack out wide as we went down to the biggest home losing margin in the Calcutta Cup. But the reality is that there isn't much else to call on. It's not as if many, many players are waiting to be selected.

And, frankly, it will be very worrying that the best Scottish players on the pitch play their sport outside Scotland, which makes you wonder about a few things because as far as I could see the most explosive players were the likes of Bryan Redpath, who is coached, plays and trains in England.

As for the English themselves, well, they were good - that's as opposed to Scotland being inept, mind you. Yet to watch a game like that with such little threatening intent from the boys in blue was enough to make you reach for the Prozac. It's Viagra we need, to stiffen the defence a bit.

And another worrying aspect of Scotland's performance was the inability of the five players wearing No 10 and bigger to have much impact on the game - instead they were snuffed out at almost every opportunity.

It was a bit like watching one of your best friends being slowly beaten up by the school bully. A school bully dressed in saintly white.

And, sorry, but we struggle at tighthead prop, and when you concede turf on the right hand side, so much of what you are trying to do is impossible. Oh, and why did we keep kicking it to Jason Robinson? He's very good. Or had nobody noticed?

If it was the Jonah Lomu tactic of making a good player run and turn, then it didn't work, as Robinson ran on to the ball. To turn him, you have to kick behind him, not far enough in front of him to allow him to gain a proper head of steam.

Although a screen of players would halt him, it was by no means certain, as his two tries on the overlap amply illustrated.

There was a moment when Martin Johnson lifted the Calcutta Cup from the Princess Royal, that gave a deep insight into just how the English viewed that win. Drinking from the metaphorical cup that has been supplied and filled by Clive Woodward, Johnson kept a stern face as he accepted the trophy signifying the oldest international rugby fixture on the planet, and it was as if to say: job well done, now for the next one.

This English team, under Woodward's guidance, is ruthlessly efficient and professional, and good luck to them. There was no huge celebration, no joy at revenge for what happened two years ago, just a quiet acceptance of a win.

Maybe England do themselves an injustice when they talk of Grand Slams, because I don't think that we ever talk of the first game in a Six Nations as the first step on the road to a Grand Slam, but that's the way you have to look at this side now.

They set themselves up to fail. Woodward burns for a Grand Slam and will be secretly chortling to have put one over on coaching guru Ian McGeechan. Of the two, it's his Grand Slam ambitions that burn with the greater power.

Well, as Kenny Logan said on the radio, maybe this is just the time we have to admit as a nation that the English have a very good rugby team. From massive players such as Johnson in the pack, to the blistering pace of Robinson at full-back, and from Mike Tindall in midfield to the hugely impressive Ben Kay and Joe Worsley up front, they didn't seem to have a weakness.

But England are not the best team in the world, far from it. Robinson is incredible, with his low centre of gravity, that ability to dart yards quickly and a bravery in dangerous situations, Will Greenwood is a superb distributor of the ball as his wide, and blind, pass for Ben Cohen's score illustrated.

He received the ball from Neil Back who was on all fours, and trusting his instincts he threw a long pass to the left where Cohen had to be. He was.

Yet for all that, England did give the ball away and a less error- strewn opposition would have made them pay.

Successes in Scottish colours were fairly obvious. Redpath was industry itself, his passing sharp. Gregor Townsend, although targeted in defence for English runs and leaking the odd early tackle, threatened to break the gain line himself, and Brendan Laney looked secure. But is there room for Logan, who, according to Lawrence Dallaglio when I met him, is playing well in a side that is struggling?

Up front, Gordon Bulloch barged, Stuart Grimes had efforts that were heroic - including trampling the English physio - and Budge Pountney supported both backs and forwards in attack.

England must have done their homework as they ensured that if there was no space close to break downs, there was even less space out wide as they fanned across the pitch.

They have also taken the game on a step or two, with big Kay a revelation to me. Tindall was dynamite, and Steve Thompson, the debutant hooker, a huge man in attack. Next up it's Italy, and if Scotland play like that they could lose. The new kicking coach has a bit to answer for as well, after all Hodge's missed kicks.

The players based outside Scotland saved our blushes. We have to ask why.

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