England have been forced to summon a posse of reinforcements, including Mike Tindall and the in-form Leeds flanker Hendre Fourie, before Saturday's Calcutta Cup game at Murrayfield. Shane Geraghty, Olly Morgan and Tom Palmer have also been recalled to the fold amid lingering doubts over the fitness of several squad members.
The second-row forward Simon Shaw, as expected, is out of contention to face Scotland after injuring his left shoulder against Ireland. Morgan has been included as full-back cover, in case Delon Armitage should fail to recover from damaged ribs, while Tindall has been formally restored to the senior squad in place of the injured Leicester centre Dan Hipkiss. Geraghty, who was unceremoniously dropped following the autumn Tests, is back in case the knock to the head suffered by Toby Flood in Leicester's weekend win over London Irish prevents the threequarter from travelling north.
The most tantalising call-up, however, is that of the uncapped Fourie, a 30-year-old back-rower who hails from Burgersdorp in South Africa's rural Eastern Cape. Fourie – who has played for the Cheetahs and Rotherham as well as England Saxons and is known to his team-mates as Shrek – has been a storming presence in the Premiership lately and was prominent in Leeds's gripping victory over Saracens on Sunday.
As things stand he owes his selection to the unlucky Wasps No8 Dan Ward-Smith's latest knee ligament problem. It would be no surprise, however, if at some stage in the coming months Fourie becomes the latest South African-born sportsman to represent England at senior level.
For now, though, Johnson seems more inclined to stick with the bulk of the side who have served England in their three previous Six Nations games. Leicester's Louis Deacon would appear the most likely candidate to replace Shaw in the starting side, with an impatient Ben Foden standing by to replace Armitage. Another defeat, however, would surely cause a more radical reshuffle and the likes of Fourie, Tindall, the Northampton wing Chris Ashton and the up‑and‑coming Leicester scrum‑half Ben Youngs may be closer to a starting place than they imagine.
An element of surprise would certainly come in handy this weekend. If anyone should know Johnson's players inside out it is Andy Robinson, a proud Englishman wearing the Scotland head coach's tracksuit. Robinson is no fool and he will have done meticulous homework on the likely England XV. Anything that could inject a scintilla of doubt into Scottish minds would also deflect suggestions, not least from the former Scotland coach Jim Telfer, that England are a "poor team" with little tactical spark.
"We have more mature ideas and a coach who's positive," said Telfer at the weekend. "In terms of philosophy, Andy Robinson and Martin Johnson are about as far apart on the spectrum as it is possible to get."
Maybe Telfer is trying to goad England into playing the kind of unstructured game which would play into the hands of the outstanding home back row, Kelly Brown, Johnnie Beattie and John Barclay. What is undeniable is that England need to emerge from a rut that is largely of their own creation. So far, to paraphrase Muhammad Ali, they have tended to float like a bee and sting like a butterfly.
How many Englishmen are in top form? Dan Cole, Tim Payne, Deacon – the list is not a particularly daunting one. In the last two Six Nations England have finished strongly. If they fail to do so this time, clubs like Stade Français, the employers of James Haskell, will be entitled to ask if the Rugby Football Union's stern stance on player release is having the desired effect.
The consolation for England is that life could be worse. They could be heading for Murrayfield with half their backs out injured, having lost all their games and with their coaches tearing their hair out, as is their hosts' current lot. The bad news is that the Scots show every sign of being a motivated team with a big win lurking within them. The law of averages would suggest that day is not far off. Are England good enough to avoid the looming ambush, having flattered to deceive against Ireland?
"Essentially the guys were guilty of trying to play too much rugby, too close to their own line, on a day when they should have concentrated on kicking or driving into the opposition half and pressurising them." Johnson's words might have been uttered in the aftermath of the Ireland game but they actually come from his autobiography and refer to England's painful grand slam defeat in Edinburgh in 2000. Same old song? At some point English rugby really has to change the record.
