England's interim head coach Stuart Lancaster hailed the character of his young side after they lifted the Calcutta Cup with a dogged 13-6 victory over Scotland.
Charlie Hodgson's try from a charged-down kick ultimately proved the difference on an evening at Murrayfield when Scotland had enough chances to win it.
England had to hold them out at the end and Lancaster put defensive effort down to the new culture he has worked to build in the squad.
"This is a very difficult place to come and win. It has been a great result for us," Lancaster said.
"We have been delighted with the attitude we showed, particularly in defence. Our discipline was very good and our desire to work hard, play for each other, play for the shirt.
"They are the things we have talked about and it was great to see them come through
"We have talked a lot about work rate, working hard for each other and fostering a spirit and it showed on the field.
"We didn't get everything right but we got a lot of things right. We are delighted to come here and get started
"Overall it was that sense of collective spirit to play for each other and keep working and working.
"To get the try (in the first minute of the second half) was very important. It gave us a foothold on game that allowed us to grow in confidence.
"Owen (Farrell) kicked the penalty at the end which was nerveless to give us that buffer but we had to work right to the end with Scotland's passion and tenacity."
The central theme of Lancaster's tenure has been to restore a sense of pride in representing England that he felt had been lost at the World Cup.
Chris Robshaw lifted the Calcutta Cup on only his second Test appearance while seven players made the England debuts, including three in the starting team.
"It was a tremendous effort from all the guys," Robshaw said.
"Whenever you play away from home you don't have as much ball as you would like but everyone defended for their lives and it really showed what it means to each other, how proud we are to play for each other and for the nation."
England made 142 tackles to Scotland's 62 and rode their luck at times. Greig Laidlaw was unable to ground his chip forward and Ross Rennie blew a try-scoring opportunity by delaying his pass for a split-second too long, allowing Ben Foden to make the cover tackle.
They were familiar failings for Scotland, who have not scored a try in four matches and have managed only 20 in the 25 Tests since Andy Robinson took charge.
England weathered the storm and grew in confidence from the moment Hodgson charged down Dan Parks' kick to put them ahead seconds after the restart.
"Scotland threw everything at us. We held our lines and we were still in the game," said coach Andy Farrell.
"When you look at the whole two weeks, we talked a hell of a lot about culture, we keep saying this group is tight and you saw that in the last 20 minutes.
"It wasn't perfect and Scotland broke us a couple of times but the way we scrambled back and fought for each other was there to see."
Robinson, meanwhile, vowed his side will resolve their inability to score tries after all too familiar failings contributed to their defeat.
Tw Parks penalties handed Scotland a 6-3 half-time lead and put the hosts on course for just a second opening-weekend win in 13 attempts in the tournament before he turned villain 24 seconds into the second half.
Robinson said: "It seems a little bit like deja vu. We've been here before and obviously we're all bitterly disappointed about what's happened.
"Winning and losing Test matches is all about inches and those small margins.
"We've not been able to convert the chances again. We've got to be able to take those chances."
Robinson remains without a win over his compatriots in four attempts, with the perennial problems of numerous errors and a continual failure to find the try-line.
Robinson has seen his side score 20 tries in his 25 Test matches in charge, but none in the last four games, since the World Cup win over Romania in Invercargill in September.
When pressed on the lack of try-scoring, Robinson added: "We look at ourselves. This is down to us and we've got to stick together.
"We've got to look at what we're doing as a group. I'm accountable for that.
"I know my responsibility there. I will keep looking at it.
"We're all accountable for this. It's a team effort that we're about.
"We're going to solve this together and we will continue to work in that way."
Foden appeared to stick out a hand as Rennie attempted to deliver a scoring pass to Mike Blair.
"Ross makes a great break and credit to the way that Ben Foden defended it," Robinson said.
"I think he knew what he was doing, as any good full-back would. He's got to stop us from scoring."
Robinson was frustrated with referee George Clancy's interpretation of the breakdown, believing England slowed down his side's ball.
He also felt aggrieved after Laidlaw's effort was ruled out, with Ben Youngs preventing the try.
Robinson added: "I've spoken to Greig, he said he got his hand to the ball and first touch. These decisions are about small margins.
"The law states you've got to get downward pressure and it looked like there was downward pressure.
"Greig was confident that he'd scored. I was pleased with the way that Greig came on and the way he ran the game. I thought he did very well."
Robinson now travels to World Cup semi-finalists Wales with a record of two wins from 11 Six Nations matches in charge, facing the prospect of another disappointing tournament.
Hooker Ross Ford, following his first Test as captain, summed up the mood in the dressing room.
Ford said: "We've been here before. There's not really much to add to it. We've created chances, we've just not taken them.
"In the latter stages we kept playing and got ourselves into good positions. We just didn't convert that pressure.
"We said in the changing room it's not what we do, it's the execution of what we do."
