England stumbled into the World Cup quarter-finals and almost certainly put Scotland out after an error-ridden victory at Eden Park.

Scotland needed a victory by eight points to have a realistic chance of progressing to the knock-out stages, and for long periods of a ferocious contest looked as if they might pull it off.

But two penalties and a drop-goal from Jonny Wilkinson, despite a host of other wayward attempts, plus a late try from Chris Ashton were enough to send a misfiring England through.

Scotland must now hope Georgia produce a huge upset and beat Argentina by at least eight points in Sunday’s final Pool B match to prevent them failing to make the last eight for the first time in World Cup history.

England can look forward to a quarter-final next weekend against a similarly struggling France, a reward they scarcely deserve on the evidence of this disjointed display.

With rain lashing across the ground at kick-off and every man in Auckland seemingly either English-born or supporting Scotland, Eden Park was transformed into Murrayfield in March.

Fly-half Ruaridh Jackson departed early with injury but Chris Paterson nailed a penalty from wide out left to give Scotland an early lead, and Jackson’s replacement Dan Parks added three more points with a penalty which skimmed over the crossbar.

England were shipping penalties at an alarming rate – five in the first 15 minutes alone – and with Wilkinson missing three long-distance pots of his own in the first 20 minutes, the alarm bells began to ring for Martin Johnson’s men.

It took until the 33rd minute for England to get on the scoreboard, Wilkinson finally finding his range from out left, but a knock-on from James Haskell from the re-start put his team straight back under pressure.

England were ponderous with ball in hand, their runners static when taking the ball and their lines obvious, while their front row struggled badly in the scrum.
Scotland, so disappointing in defeat to Argentina a week ago, tryless against the comparative minnows of Georgia, carried all the menace and mobility.

Scotland had the territory and the momentum, forcing England into almost twice as many tackles and rattling them repeatedly at set-pieces.

England manager Martin Johnson says World Cup quarter-final opponents France should not be underestimated.

Les Bleus made the last eight despite being beaten 19-14 by Tonga, while England struggled to a 16-12 win over Scotland to secure top spot in Pool B.

“France are dangerous and are never more dangerous than when they’re flying under the radar,” said Johnson.

“It will be knock-out rugby and it is certainly a big step up in terms of the opposition we are facing.”