Scotland's Nathan Hines insists he is determined to be tough without being dirty against England in the RBS 6 Nations at Murrayfield on Saturday.

The Australian-born lock has earned himself a reputation for being a bit too fast with his fists in recent weeks.

First he was sin-binned against Wales when he lashed out at Lee Byrne after being pulled by the full-back.

Then, against Ireland a fortnight ago, Hines cost his team a penalty at a crucial moment and was lucky not to be sent the sin bin again when he swung at Denis Leamy.

The Perpignan bruiser said the criticism he received after those two moments of madness is justified but is determined to put things right this weekend.

"I think the flak I have copped is fair enough," he said.

"I watched the video of the Irish game for the first time earlier this week and it does look pretty bad.

"I don't regret trying to get the ball back but I shouldn't have put myself in that situation where I was at risk of giving away a penalty.

"I've been quite hard on myself over these two incidents. I don't want that to be the only thing people remember me by, so it is something I am conscious of and I'll try not to put myself in that sort of situation again."

This Six Nations championship is not the first time Hines has been embroiled in controversy over foul play.

He was the first Scotland player to be sent off in a Test match after throwing a wild punch against the USA Eagles in 2002, and in last season's competition he was heavily implicated when Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan claimed a Scottish player had tried to throttle Ronan O'Gara at the bottom of a ruck.

The Ireland coach failed to produce a single shred of evidence to support his accusations and it is generally accepted Hines did not have a case to answer on that particular occasion.

Hines is keen to stress his reputation as the wild man of the Scotland side is unfair.

"From the warm-up games for the World Cup to the Wales game I only gave away two penalties," he added.

"Another player might give away three penalties on the floor in one match but that isn't considered as bad,' he said.

'But I understand why people are frustrated by those penalties. Unnecessary is probably the best way of describing them. They were avoidable penalties. It's my fault."

The worry for Scotland fans is that by making a conscious effort to stay on the right side of the law, Hines is in danger of stifling the natural aggression which has made him such an important player for Scotland over the years.

It is not a concern shared by the player.

"I don't really buy that. I think I could have played exactly the same way against Ireland without that one moment when I gave away the penalty," he said.

"I don't think it is going to affect my game by not doing that sort of stuff."

It will be particularly important for Scotland on Saturday that as few penalties as possible are conceded.

With Jonny Wilkinson back close to his best form any chink in the home team's armour is certain to be exploited ruthlessly.

"You can't afford to give away silly penalties against any team in this tournament - and against England it could be disastrous," said Hines.

"Teams have found to their cost in the past that you give them a penalty here and a penalty there and before you know it they are out of reach."

Hines believes Scotland are close to putting together the sort of performance which could trouble Brian Ashton's side, having shown progress against Ireland in their last match.

"I would say it is a case of more of the same but doing it better. We've got to look up and recognise when things are on," he said.

"We aren't going to get that many chances against England so we can't afford to waste any of them.

"The preparation has gone really well and there is a feeling among the guys that it is now or never, so it should be interesting.

"It's always good to beat England because it's a tournament within a tournament with the Calcutta Cup."

Teams;

Scotland: H Southwell (Edinburgh); R Lamont (Sale Sharks), S Webster (Edinburgh), G Morrison (Glasgow), N Walker (Ospreys); C Paterson (Gloucester), M Blair (Edinburgh, capt); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), R Ford (Edinburgh), E Murray (Northampton), N Hines (Perpignan), S MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets), A Strokosch (Gloucester), A Hogg (Edinburgh), S Taylor (Stade Francais).

Replacements: F Thomson (Glasgow), A Dickinson (Gloucester), C Smith (Edinburgh), J White (Sale Sharks), K Brown (Glasgow), R Lawson (Gloucester), D Parks (Glasgow).

England: I Balshaw (Gloucester); P Sackey (Wasps), J Noon (Newcastle), T Flood (Newcastle), L Vainikolo (Gloucester); J Wilkinson (Newcastle), R Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), L Mears (Bath), P Vickery (Wasps, capt), S Shaw (Wasps), S Borthwick (Bath), T Croft (Leicester), M Lipman (Bath), N Easter (Harlequins).

Replacements: G Chuter (Leicester), M Stevens (Bath), B Kay (Leicester), L Narraway (Gloucester), P Hodgson (London Irish), M Tait (Newcastle), C Hodgson (Sale Sharks).

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