Martin Johnson's England will face France in the last eight of the World Cup following a far from convincing 16-12 over Scotland at a packed Eden Park in Auckland.
This Calcutta Cup clash was the first time the sides had met outside of either England or Scotland in 127 years and with 24 minutes to play Andy Robinson's charges, who needed to win by at least seven points and hope Georgia did them a favour against Argentina on Sunday, had a 12-3 lead with 24 minutes to play thanks in the main to the kicking exploits of Chris Paterson and Dan Parks, who replaced Ruairidh Jackson with less than five minutes on the clock.
However, England, who were wretched throughout this Pool B encounter, sealed the win late on when winger Chris Ashton went over for the only try of the game with three minutes from the finish.
Scotland led 9-3 at the break, Parks having the last laugh with a drop goal, after Jonny Wilkinson had missed three first-half penalties before finally nailing one after 34 minutes when Scotland were penalised at a ruck.
That nine-point lead lasted only a minute however as Wilkinson finally found his range with a huge drop kick.
Another Wilkinson drop attempt was charged down and almost led to a Scottish try, but immediately after he landed a crucial penalty from out wide to bring England back to 12-9 before Aston broke Scottish hearts and substitute Toby Flood, who caught the eye when introduced, added the extras.