Six Nations: Johnson in the last chance saloon

If the last chance saloon was a bar and not a cliche, then Martin Johnson would be sat in the corner, nursing a large one, looking more miserable than ever. For no doubt the England manager is facing the biggest test of his coaching career tomorrow when his side take on Scotland in Edinburgh. Should the visitors lose, the fury among an already disgruntled English public may force the RFU into sacking the man they appointed with such fanfare two years ago.

Not only will it be another Six Nations gone down the tubes but it will be Johnson's 10th defeat in 18 matches. Perhaps if, in that time, England had shown signs of evolution, the public might be more forgiving, but the reality is that in the last year England have regressed not progressed. They were abject in the autumn, losing to Australia and New Zealand and doing just enough to overcome a second-string Argentina, but Johnson blamed the performances on a string of injuries to leading players. Wait until the Six Nations, he promised, when I have a full squad, and you'll see a different England.

But it's been the same old England – uninspired, uncertain and unthreatening. In beating Wales 30-17 they ran in over half their points when Wales were down to 14 men, and against Italy they scored one well-worked try and were otherwise awful in the narrow 17-12 win. They had the bulk of possession against Ireland but managed only one close-range try from prop Dan Cole, while the Irish created three try-scoring opportunities and took each one in their 20-16 victory.

England's matches have been marked by a lack of penetration from the backs, a lack of power from the forwards and, worse of all, a lack of passion all round. And with Johnson's conservative XV to face Scotland many of the fans have reached the end of their tether. For reasons known only to Johnson, the horribly out-of-form Delon Armitage has been given  another chance at full-back – suspect ribs and all – while the in-form Ben Foden, who impressed in his brief appearance against Ireland is left on the bench. There's no such luck for the other Armitage, Steffon, who was expected to come in on the flank after England's back-row underperformed against Ireland. Armitage is an out-and-out No7, quick, creative and a good link between backs and forwards. Instead Johnson dropped Lewis Moody and brought in Joe Worsley. The old warhorse is as courageous and committed as they come, but creative he ain't. He's there to nullify the threat posed by the talented Scottish back-row, a clear signal that positive thinking isn't flowing through the English camp.

The retention of  scrum-half Danny Care is similarly dispiriting. Care has a good running game but his passing his woeful, a sorry thing to say about a scrum-half. His laboured delivery to Jonny Wilkinson is denying the England fly-half a precious second or two in his decision-making while allowing the opposition back-row time to close him down.

Scotland have made only one change to the XV that slumped to defeat in Rome, and that's the inclusion of Nick De Luca in the centre at the expense of Simon Danielli. Coach Andy Robinson is in a vastly different predicament to Martin Johnson, his former England teammate. Scotland have the smallest playing resources of the Home Nations, just 36,000 registered players compared to England's 2 million, and Robinson has got his side playing some decent rugby in the nine months he's been in charge. Scotland's failings this season have been the responsibility of the players: a want of composure against Wales and poor execution against Italy.  

England have lost on their last two visits to Edinburgh and Robinson, who was in charge of England between 2004 and 2006, is confident Scotland can make it a hat-trick of wins in the 127th Calcutta Cup fixture. "It's taking the opportunities that we create and stopping England scoring," he said, adding: "The last two games that have been won here at Murrayfield, England haven't scored a try."

Scoring tries hasn't been a problem this season for either Wales or Ireland and their clash in Dublin on Saturday should throw up a few more. The Irish are unchanged from the side that beat England a fortnight ago and the match will be a milestone in the career of Brian O'Driscoll. The best Irish threequarter of his generation – and arguably of any era in Irish rugby – wins his 100th cap tomorrow, only the 14th player in the history of the game to do so. "At the start you want to get as many caps as possible, but you never look and hope to attain 100," O'Driscoll said this week. "I've always approached it like the next game in a green shirt is my last. With that policy you can't go far wrong."

Sunday sees France hosting Italy in Paris, a venue where the Italians have never won. Despite beating Scotland in Rome two weeks ago, Italy won't have the firepower to pull off a shock result against France, the only unbeaten side in the championship. Victory over Italy will leave the French needing to beat England on Saturday week to achieve their first Grand Slam since 2004. So it might well be that the "Auld Alliance" of Scotland and France combine to throw Johnson out of his saloon and on to the street. ·