ROSS Ford knows what it takes to beat England - he was in the Scotland side that won the Calcutta Cup in 2006 and again in 2008. And the hooker is convinced that the key to winning at BT Murrayfield today is keeping a cool head and not getting carried away by what he calls the “fire and brimstone” approach.

Having grown up in the Borders, Ford is well aware that this match means more than any other to Scotland’s supporters. He still feels as excited by the game as he ever did as a fan, but he is sure that at the same time he and his team-mates have to make sure they do not carried away by the emotion of the occasion.

“It's always a great game to be involved in for the way the public see things,” the 31-year-old said yesterday. “When you're walking about and people are talking about the Calcutta Cup and getting stuck into the English, stuff like that, you enjoy being lucky enough to be part of it. I think it's great having that buzz with the public.

“It's slightly different for the players. That excitement is still there, but you have to understand that when you're on the pitch you can't go all fire and brimstone. You've got to think about things and make sure that your judgment and skills aren't being clouded by trying to be the big man and all that guff."

It must be hard to stay calm when there are minutes to go before kick-off and the fireworks are going off and the excitement levels are mounting in the stands, but Ford has seen it all before. He is sure that the build-up helps him prepare rather than getting him too excited.

"I'm used to it now and you get to the point where it's just part of it and a good start to the game. But you quickly switch into your different roles and what you're supposed to be doing at certain times, focusing on the now rather than the past or what might happen. You need to stay in the moment."

Ford came off the bench in the win in 2006, then started the victory two years later. The key to getting the better of England both times, he thinks, was “creating chaos”.

“It was that long ago I barely remember. On both occasions the weather was particularly bad.

“We managed to create a lot of chaos and that was the big thing. Defensively we were pretty good and we took our chances. Those are the things that I remember.

“Something we look to do all of the time is create chaos both in defence and in attack. That’s something we need to look at doing once again.

“We have trained well this week and we have our systems in place. We also need to operate at a tempo and pace which allows us to bring that chaos.

“It’s something we tried to do at the World Cup and it worked well for us. Hopefully we have improved since then and we can show that when we kick-off tomorrow.”

Scotland have certainly improved since he won his first cap against Australia a dozen years. Now, as he closes in on a century of Test appearances -- today will be his 95th, so he will be just one away from the ton if he plays in all Scotland’s games in the RBS Six Nations Championship - Ford is sure that the front row he is part of along with Edinburgh team-mates Alasdair Dickinson and WP Nel is the best he has known.

“It’s certainly up there as being the best front row I’ve played in. It’s been good being able to work with WP and Dicko at Edinburgh. There are so many different packs and we have managed to solve so many problems during games - and that’s good for us coming into an international as we have come up against most things.

“We know how to fix a lot of them during the game. It’s certainly a good front row we have in place.”

Scotland substitute Duncan Taylor has been passed fit and will wear the No 23 jersey. Glasgow Warriors winger Sean Lamont had been on standby to come on to the bench if the Saracens man had failed a fitness test on a back strain.