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Jonny Gray urges Scotland to find another level ahead of huge date with England

Scotland's lock Jonny Gray (C) is tackled by Wales' lock Jake Ball (centre R) and Wales' flanker Sam Warburton (L) during the Six Nations international rug
Image: Jonny Gray tries to break through the Wales line on Saturday

Jonny Gray says Scotland cannot afford to stand still when they start preparations to end a lengthy winless run at Twickenham.

Scotland take on England on March 11 looking for their first Triple Crown in 27 years, having beaten Wales in Cardiff on Saturday to follow up their Murrayfield victory over Ireland.

But history is not on Vern Cotter's side as their last victory over England at their home ground came in 1983.

Confidence is high in the Scotland camp but giant lock Gray says that confidence will have to be replaced by focus by the time the two sides walk out in a fortnight's time.

Gray said: "It's going to be a massive, massive challenge to go down to England and win.

"Every game in the Six Nations is getting closer and closer. It took a late try to separate Wales and England a couple of weeks ago. Our game in France was decided by just six points.

Tommy Seymour goes past Scott Williams of Wales to score a try
Image: Tommy Seymour goes past Scott Williams of Wales to score a try for Scotland

"It just shows the small margins that are at stake, so we need to get better. We can't stand still."

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And Gray says England will look to exploit Scotland's deficiencies more than Wales did on Saturday, when they failed to take a host of first-half chances and only led by four points.

Scotland proved far more focused in the second period and scores from Tommy Seymour and Tim Visser saw them secure a 29-13 victory.

Tim Visser beats Leigh Halfpenny to score Scotland's second try
Image: Tim Visser beats Leigh Halfpenny to score Scotland's second try

"It was a very hard win," admitted Gray. "The first half was pretty frustrating. They put a lot of pressure on us.

"But I thought in the second half, we stuck to the game plan, changed things up a wee bit and all in all we're very happy to get the win against a very tough and very physical side like Wales.

"All credit to Wales. We knew they were going to put a lot of pressure on us and they did. They have guys in their team like Alun Wyn Jones and Sam Warburton who cause problems at the breakdown.

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 26: Mike Brown of England is tackled by Sergio Parisse of Italy during the RBS Six Nations match between England and Italy
Image: England had plenty of trouble against Italy before eventually claiming their 17th straight win

"We just didn't get our flow sometimes but there was some good stuff in our first-half display. We just had to get more of the good things coming through after the break.

"Our backs were clinical and scored some good tries. We'll enjoy this but we have a week off now and we'll look at the improvements we have to make, because there was some sloppy moments which we have to tidy up."

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