Jonathan Joseph’s hat-trick of tries helped a rampant England retain the Six Nations title with one match to spare, and Dylan Hartley’s men now go to Ireland next Saturday aiming to complete a first back-to-back Grand Slam since Will Carling’s side of 1991 and 1992

It is the first time England have captured the Championship in successive seasons since 2000 and 2001, and in doing so they equalled New Zealand’s world record of 18 winning Test matches on the spin, with 17 of them under Australian head coach Eddie Jones.

It may not yet be the sustained pomp of 1991 to 2003, when England held the Five/Six Nations title in seven years out of 13, but here at Twickenham, on the warmest day of 2017 so far, the crowd was more than happy to take it.

Joe Launchbury celebrates after driving over with Billy Vunipola (Getty)

Delirious might be a better way to out it - and anyone without a ticket for Dublin in seven days’ time was frantically thinking up ways to get across the water and call in a few favours, as Scotland never remotely threatened to upset the English applecart.

Any hopes the Scots had of laying hands on the Triple Crown for the first time since 1990, and wresting the Calcutta Cup back after its nine years in England’s possession, were pretty much over by half-time, after a calamitous collection of Scottish mishaps and a scintillating series of scores by the home side.

England vs Scotland player ratings Show all 30 1 /30 England vs Scotland player ratings England vs Scotland player ratings ENGLAND: 15-Mike Brown Busy game, his best for a while, not least for his left-footed kicking option. Equalled Matt Perry’s record as most-capped England full-back (36). 7/10 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 14-Anthony-Watson Frustrating day at the office. Did little wrong but not as involved as he should be. Still learning the Chris Ashton-style tracking skills. 6 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 13-Jonathan Joseph Wonderful early try when he came short off Ford and jinked past Hogg for his fourth try of the tournament. Looked a class act once again. 7 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 12-Luther Burrell Failed to trust his left-hand pass in first minute, butchering a try. Not hitting the heights of last year but offers a physical threat. AP England vs Scotland player ratings 11-Jack Nowell Relished the open spaces with ball in hand but blew a try and got sucked in too easily defensively. Still a work in progress at this level. 7 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 10-George Ford Threatened Scotland throughout with his delayed passes on the gain-line. Ghosted through for valuable try soon after the break. 8 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 9-Ben-Youngs Improvement from Dublin. Took more responsibility and varied his game well around fringes. Holding off Wigglesworth’s challenge. 8 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 1-Joe Marler Penalised more than once at the scrum but, after 10 successive starts, has plenty of credit in the bank. 6 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 2-Dylan Hartley His lineout arrows were slightly off. He remains under fierce pressure for the No 2 shirt from Tom Youngs. 5 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 3-Dan Cole Lucky to avoid yellow card for his goal-line lunge at the ruck. His discipline was a bit loose but put in good shift at the scrum. 6 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 4 -Dave Atwood The Bath man is always a force in the maul and scrum but still needs to do bit more around the park. 6 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 5-Courtney Lawes Big impact on his first appearance since the autumn. Prominent in lineout and put constant pressure on the Scots, as Russell can testify. 8 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 6-James Haskell Questionable whether he is doing enough to fend off Wood’s challenge for the No 6 shirt. His forward pass denied Brown a second-half try. 6 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 7-Chris Robshaw As consistent as ever. Stuart Lancaster’s fear must be whether the skipper can keep going at full throttle until the World Cup is done. 7 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 8-Billy Vunipola Scotland kept him under wraps pretty well. Like Robshaw, no doubting his engine. His power from standing start is wondrous at times. 7 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings SCOTLAND: 15-Stuart Hogg Saved Scotland three times with his last-ditch tackles on Burrell and Brown during the early English siege. 8 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 14-Dougie Fife Will be pleased with his efforts after coming in for Sean Lamont. Did not look out of place and made crucial try-saving tackle on Nowell. 7 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 13-Mark Bennett Looks set for a long spell in the No 13 shirt. The Glasgow centre took his try well and shows terrific composure for a 22-year-old. 8 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 12-Matt Scott Flew out the line to provide Joseph with his fifth-minute try. First Test start for a year and looked like it. 6 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 11-Tommy Seymour Forced to switch from right to left wing and coped efficiently. Honours even with his battle with Watson. 7 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 10-Finn Russell Good touches though did not enjoy the close attentions of Lawes and Co. But Scots must keep the faith - he can get a back-line moving. 6 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 9-Greig Laidlaw Raised the tempo when called for. The experienced No 9 is a vital presence in such a young back-line. 7 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 1-Alasdair Dickinson Tends to fade in later part of the match but his lineout work is as good as at any time in his career. 5 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 2-Ross Ford Tends to fade in later part of the match but his lineout work is as good as at any time in his career. 7 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 3-Euan Murray Equalled Allan Jacobsen’s caps record for a Scottish prop (65). The former Lion still has plenty to offer, in the set piece at least. 7 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 4-Jim Hamilton Brought in by Vern Cotter for his physicality and strength in the maul and he didn’t let his coach down. Is a more disciplined player these days. 7 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 5-Jonny Gray Scotland’s captain-in-waiting according to some. A menace in the lineout and shows maturity beyond his years – he was 21. 7 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 6-Robert Harley Possibly shaded the battle of the blind-sides. Likes to annoy opponents and generally succeeds. 6 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 7-Blair Cowan Earning an unwanted reputation for conceding penalties, but he remains a key cog in this side. One of the best turnover merchants around. 7 Getty Images England vs Scotland player ratings 8-David Denton Gave Scotland a good ball-carrying outlet and more bulk in the tight exchanges. Decent performance before giving way to Beattie. 6 Getty Images

The first savage wound to Scotland was self-inflicted when their hooker Fraser Brown went to the sin bin in the second minute for a tip tackle on England wing Elliot Daly.

Daly landed on his back, but he needed a head injury assessment and would only be able to resume for another six minutes before being replaced by Anthony Watson.

Ben Youngs in action for England (Getty)

Scotland were much more heavily hit as star full-back Stuart Hogg was withdrawn after a head knock and his replacement Mark Bennett lasted only four minutes before injuring a leg trying to run out of his 22.

It left Scotland’s starting scrum-half Ali Price on the wing and fly-half Finn Russell – and later substitute Duncan Weir – at the back to cover for Hogg.

They had already been obliged to start without the injured scrum-half Greig Laidlaw, and Brown’s absence meant No.8 Ryan Wilson had to throw into one line-out in a good position that came to nothing.

And while there had been little in the early exchanges anyway to suggest England’s big pack were going to be derailed by Scotland’s more mobile back row, the disarray among the visitors’ double-digit jersey numbers certainly contributed to three blistering tries by England for a 30-7 lead at the interval.

Jonathan Joseph looks for the offload after being tackled by Ryan Wilson (Getty)

England had started slowly in their previous wins over France, Wales and Italy in this Six Nations but their attacking moves off line-outs led by Courtney Lawes were super-smooth in execution and easily splintered the shellshocked Scots.

Jonathan Joseph had his 14th and 15th Test tries, in his 32nd Test for England, after two and 24 minutes, with his Bath club-mate George Ford pulling the midfield strings.

And Joseph turned creator in the 35th minute as another Bath man, Anthony Watson (on for the stricken Daly) cantered over.

Owen Farrell was just as prominent in the midfield skewering of the Scots, having recovered sufficiently from a midweek training injury, although the Saracens centre played with his left leg heavily strapped.

Farrell converted all three tries as well as two penalties, although he proved himself marginally fallible with an attempt from the halfway line that flew millimetres wide just before the half-time whistle.

Scotland and England's forwards compete for a line-out (Getty)

Scotland’s plight was so bad they were forced to kick a penalty in the England 22 into touch with 27 minutes gone but it produced their first points. A clever line-out ploy with backs stepping in and out of the line-out, followed by several sharp pick-and-goes, were finished by Gordon Reid for the loosehead prop’s first Test try.

Joseph’s hat-trick score came two minutes into the second half, with a strolling finish after some battering by No.8 Nathan Hughes.

Farrell’s conversion and subsequent penalty nudged England’s lead up to 33 points before centre Huw Jones nicked a try back for Scotland, from short range taking Henry Pyrgos’s pass off a ruck.

Sadly there had only been brief glimpses of the galloping Jonny Gray and Tim Visser as the staggeringly athletic Lawes and Maro Itoje dominated the physical exchanges – whether in open play or in the occasional scuffles as Scottish forwards lost their composure.

Jonathan Joseph opened the scoring with an early try (Getty)

Itoje’s line-out take paved the way for a popular try by Billy Vunipola within five minutes of the Saracens No.8 coming on for his first Test since November after a knee injury.

An accidental clash of heads removed Wilson for Scotland, and Jamie George of England, which brought the substituted captain Hartley back onto the field.

But the notion of “finishers” popularised by Jones the coach was barely relevant as the Twickenham crowd had long settled into a contented hum of assured victory before the final quarter played out.

England already had their record score in the Calcutta Cup, and were on the way to their second-highest in any Championship match, so a second try for Jones the centre converted by Russell was hardly going to cause much consternation.

It was a heated affair at Twickenham but England emerged on top (Getty)

And the white-jerseyed barrage quickly resumed with yet another try from a line-out nabbed by the jinking Danny Care - and the substitute scrum-half had another in the fourth minute of added time, with Farrell popping over his sixth and seventh conversions for 26 points on his own.

Another record that had fallen was England winning 11 Championship matches in a row but you can bet all the players are thinking about now is finishing the job in style against the Irish.

Scorers:

England: tries: Joseph 3, Watson, B Vunipola, Care 2; conversions: Farrell 7; penalties: Farrell 4.

Scotland: tries: Reid, Jones 2; conversions: Russell 3.

England: M Brown; J Nowell , J Joseph (rep B Te’o 58th min), O Farrell, E Daly (A Watson 2-10, 16); G Ford, B Youngs (D Care 61); J Marler (M Vunipola 58), D Hartley (capt; J George 52-62, 70), D Cole (K Sinckler 61), J Launchbury, C Lawes (T Wood 67), M Itoje, J Haskell, N Hughes (B Vunipola 52).

Scotland: S Hogg (M Bennett 18, H Pyrgos 22); T Seymour (D Weir 45), H Jones, A Dunbar, T Visser; F Russell, A Price; G Reid (A Dell 44), F Brown (sin bin 2-13; R Ford 44), Z Ferguson (S Berghan 61), R Gray, J Gray (T Swinson 75), J Barclay (capt), H Watson, R Wilson (C du Preez 62).