ROSS FORD, Scotland's youngest player, has made an exceptional case for the hooking role in the starting XV when England visit Murrayfield next week after Sunday's fine performance as a replacement against Wales.

A place in the team would pit him against the man whose success helped to transform his career: Steve Thomson.

Ford, 21, was advised three years ago by Tony Gilbert, then the Borders coach, to move from back-row to hooker just as Thomson, who made the same switch, was establishing himself as a key member of England's grand slam and World Cup winning side.

Sunday's half-hour showing against Wales went a long way towards dispelling any doubts about any technical limitations Ford may have suffered as a result of coming to such a specialist position relatively late in his development. He was delighted yesterday to be told he had received substantial praise from Frank Hadden, the Scotland coach.

"I really enjoyed my time on the pitch, " he said. "I've not had a chance to speak to Frank yet, but I'm happy he was impressed."

Ford has spoken to George Graham, Scotland's forwards coach, with whom he also works at the Borders, and told him he had felt at ease in the environment.

"George asked how I felt the scrums went. It was very intense, but good. I was comfortable enough. Even with just seven in the scrum [following the sending-off of Scott Murray], it felt all right."

That reference to Scotland being short-handed could affect Ford's chances of facing England, though. If Murray is banned at tomorrow's disciplinary hearing , it would mean by far the most experienced member of Scotland's front five would be out of the side.

Hadden is continuing to talk with Nathan Hines - he is, ironically, the only Scotland player previously sent off in a Test - about a comeback to the international scene, but said he does not intend to use Murray's situation as leverage.

He added that he is very happy with the competition for places with Craig Hamilton, a regular starter in the autumn, edged out of the Six Nations squad by Ally Kellock and Scott MacLeod.

In the absence of both Murray and Hines, it is questionable whether Hadden would believe he could afford to throw such a raw player in against the English juggernaut and the coach did say they would have to be very careful in how Ford's development is controlled.

Yet, at approaching 17 stones, Ford is more than a stone and a half heavier than Scott Lawson, who started on Sunday, and that could make a real difference.

Ford is itching for the chance, though, and indicated his ability to cope by showing great composure with his throwing into the lineout, where Lawson, who is recognised as outstanding in that most pressurised discipline, had struggled early on.

"I'd love to have a crack at England but I didn't even expect to be on the bench for the Welsh game after the pack's performance against France."

Hadden must be tempted after the reminder in the early stages of Sunday's game of Scotland's lack of bulk, when Wales drove the pack over their own line for the first try.

Hadden acknowledged: "Let's be honest about it: one of the reasons we want to play the way we want to play is to try to make light of that.

"It's important to note that the Welsh certainly didn't impose any pressure on us in the scrummage late on once it had loosened up a bit and it was an incredibly fast-flowing game."

Certainly Scotland must try to play at sustained pace to test opponents' conditioning. To that end, it was clearly a source of frustration that they had to adjust their style to accommodate being down to 14 men.

It limited their lineout options and also meant they could not play with the desired width, as was evident in Hadden's assessment of the sole debutant, Ben MacDougall.

"The pace of the game was so fast, it suited Ben, " said Hadden. "His positioning was exceptional throughout. His defensive alignment and organisational skills were excellent.

"The ball didn't come his way very often, though, because we weren't going to play the same way when we were down to 14 men. It was a much more direct approach we had to take after that."

MacDougall hopes to continue his remarkable rugby journey against England but insists the Millennium experience will stay with him forever. "It was very fast and the atmosphere was fantastic, " said the Australia-born centre.

"Playing in front of a crowd like that is something I'll always remember."