That historic victory has raised hopes of a repeat performance from the Scots but Paterson knows the Auld Enemy could easily bounce back at Twickenham this year.

Scotland have not won in London since 1983, and the world champions will be desperate prove themselves to new coach Brian Ashton after a terrible run of results under former coach Andy Robinson.

Paterson said: Some people might say that Twickenham is no longer the fortress it has been, but an away win is a hard, hard thing to achieve in international rugby - and that is definitely the case against an England team which will be desperate to impress their new coach.

They still have world class players, and it would be foolish to write them off just because they have had one bad year.

Having said that, a lot of the guys who will play for Scotland at Twickenham next Saturday were involved when we beat England at Murrayfield last season.

Even though we all recognise that it is going to be a much harder task away from home, that result has to give us at least a glimmer of confidence.

I remember us talking last year about how important it is to get a good start to the tournament, and thats what Ill be stressing this year.

Scotland seem certain to be without several senior players when they face England, but Paterson, who yesterday was named captain, said he has been impressed at the way the new members of the squad have fitted in.

The sessions have been good so far, he said. With the number of injuries we have to key players - like Jason White, Allister Hogg, Chris Cusiter, Mike Blair and Simon Webster - there was a danger that things could have tailed off a little bit, but the standard has been as high, if not higher, than it had been before.

I think that has put us in a good frame of mind for the next few weeks.

White will miss the whole of this years competition but it is expected Hogg, Cusiter, Blair and Webster will be back before the tournament reaches the halfway stage, with Cusiter even hinting recently that he may be fit in time for the England game.

France-based Nathan Hines is another senior player currently unavailable due to injury but it is hoped his foot injury will heal in time for Scotlands second match of the championship against Wales on February 10.