Coach Clive Woodward has shown he is never afraid to let reputations get in the way of picking his best team and Dallaglio knows a poor performance tomorrow could affect a player's chances of facing Ireland.

"The environment is such that if I don't play well as an individual, or if any of the guys don't play well, then you won't be picked against Ireland. That's your best way of not worrying about Ireland," he said.

"We've got to play well as individuals and play well as a team and then hopefully we can look forward to Ireland."

And even though England have beaten Scotland in 11 of their last 12 encounters, he exuded the ultra-professionalism of Woodward's squad.

He said: "We will give Scotland the full respect they deserve and are very excited by the game coming up."

The 30-year-old former England captain knows all about the pitfalls that can occur in international rugby and is keen not to hype up his side's chances of a Grand Slam.

"In time, it's not that long away but certainly in rugby time it's a long, long way away," he said.

"They have got a lot better. They would have been disappointed with the way they played against Ireland but certainly there were signs against Wales that it could be the sort of game we have come to expect and know that Scotland are capable of making it a tough encounter.

"They always raise their performance by 20 or 30% when they play against us and I've no doubt that this weekend will be the same."