there is a digital clock in the foyer of the old rfu offices on rugby road that is counting down to the beginning of the world cup as england walked out to play scotland yesterday evening, it said there were 180 days to go everything england do in this six nations is being seen through the prism of their prospects in the tournament which will start here at twickenham on september 18 with their opener against fiji when stuart lancaster’s side failed their biggest test of this competition, slumping to a shattering 19 9 loss to ireland at the aviva stadium a fortnight ago, many observers said the rest of the six nations was redundant for them exeter wing jack nowell crosses over to score england's third try and send them top of the six nations table  ben youngs hands off a tackle as england recovered from a half time deficit to win at twickenham  video o2 inside line: england v scotland match review  they said that the match against ireland was the only game that could tell us whether england were making significant progress in the build up to the world cup and nothing that happened in their last two games against france or scotland mattered they were damned for the manner of their defeat, of course unflattering comparisons were drawn with where this side stands six months before the world cup to the level clive woodward’s side had reached at the same stage prior to the 2003 tournament ‘based on their performances in the six nations, england are running the risk of being labelled the most foolish team in the competition,’ england world cup winner will greenwood wrote ‘england need to play with tempo, yes, but they need to do it with their rugby brains fully engaged and that is not what they have been doing at key moments’ england won the game but they haven't shown enough to convince yet during the six nations  mike brown was one of the better performers but england spurned too many opportunities at twickenham  despite the predictions, though, saturday's battle for the calcutta cup told us plenty about england’s prospects in the autumn it wasn’t all good by any means in fact, the evidence of an exhilarating first half suggested again that england are still short of the standard they have to achieve to be realistic contenders for the world cup it felt like a wasted opportunity despite concerns that the match had not sold out, the atmosphere at twickenham had been bolstered by the scenes playing on the screens inside and outside the stadium from cardiff where wales’ victory over ireland put england back in with a chance of winning the six nations when england tore scotland apart in the opening minutes, it felt as if this could yet be the game that ignited their confidence and laid the foundation for future success that feeling did not last for long george ford got england off to a perfect start in the second half but the first half will have worried them  the england squad smile for the cameras having defeated scotland 25 13 to win the calcutta cup  defeating scotland however will not lead the top nations to fear england, and time is running out  england were not ruthless enough in attack they squandered chance after chance to convert breakaways, eschewing easy passes, making the wrong decisions they should have scored four tries before half time but they were limited to jonathan joseph’s score after a neat sidestep five minutes into the game it seemed then as if england were about to embark on the points rampage that would put them in prime position ahead of the final fixtures of the competition next weekend that rampage did not materialise instead, scotland came back into the game and more doubts began to surface about england this time, it was their defence which suffered in comparison to the heroic efforts of the welsh earlier in the day mark bennett bulldozed his way over for a score with scotland’s first chance of the game midway through the half twickenham may still be a formidable place to get a result, but england are not unbeatable there  tom youngs (centre) leads an england breakaway as lancaster's side returned to the six nations summit  england allowed scotland back into the game too easily, and they lack momentum heading to the world cup  scotland actually led 13 10 at the interval their supporters began to dream of a first victory at twickenham for 32 years it was hardly the response to the defeat in dublin that lancaster was looking for ‘england need to be careful out there or they could end up with real egg on their face,’ woodward said at half time england banished that idea when george ford burst over for a try three minutes into the second half but, even though scotland never threatened again, england remained unconvincing there were times when they seemed to be trying to set a new record for ways in which they could ruin their good work anthony watson runs clear but england repeatedly failed to take their chances at twickenham on saturday  twice they had tries ruled out for forward passes a late score in the corner from jack nowell put a healthier gloss on the result but they will only take a four point advantage over ireland into the deciding weekend it should have been more and when the final whistle went, it was met only by lukewarm applause sure, england may yet win the six nations next saturday but the truth is that there is no sense of momentum about their build up to the world cup there are moments when they excite, certainly, but there are times when they bewilder, too the suspicion remains that even here at twickenham, the best in the world will be too much for them in the autumn and all the time, that clock in the old rfu headquarters keeps on counting down
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