Hooker can sometimes appear to be the loneliest position on the rugby field.

On the plus side, you spend parts of the game huddled up in the middle of the scrum surrounded by all your mates, but every so often you have to throw into a lineout and then you are right out on your own in a classic no-win situation.

When things go well, the praise is shared around liberally; when they go badly, you get the blame whether or not it is your fault. When that happens, it is hard not to allow it to affect the rest of your game.

So it speaks volumes about Ross Ford's character that, after a couple of years in the doldrums, culminating in the loss of his starting spot during the RBS Six Nations Championship earlier this year, a change of coach and the confidence boost of being thrown straight back into the action brought out the performance it did last weekend against Argentina.

With the added pressure of knowing a 20-year-old debutant, Jonny Gray, was controlling the lineout at Murrayfield, the Scotland pair produced a perfect display with 10 out of 10 throws going straight to hand. They were also able to help set up the vibrant attacking performance during which Scotland were able to race to a 34-10 lead by the time Ford was taken off for a well-earned rest.

"Sometimes it can be [lonely]. That is part and parcel of the job," he said. "You are there to hit the jumpers and if you are not doing it . . . sometimes it's not your fault, sometimes it is, but you just have to get on with it. Go away and work on things and look at things slightly differently. That is in the past now, though.

"Jonny [Gray] has been calling the lineout well for Glasgow and did a great job on Saturday. The same with Gilcho [Grant Gilchrist, who missed the game with a broken arm] and Jim [Hamilton, who was on the bench], that's what they do at their clubs and you just have to trust them. You have a week to drill it, see how far you can push it and get to the very best. Jonny did a really great job."

It will be an entirely different challenge this week, though. New Zealand may have injury issues in their second row, but the All Blacks still have plenty of talent available in that department as well as a formidable team around them. What was good enough against Argentina will not do in the next match.

Ford, who has played New Zealand three times and so knows what it is like to lose to them, is relishing the task. "We have good momentum coming off the back of beating Argentina but there is no point hyping things up," he said.

"The game can only be won on Saturday. There is no point talking about great things just now. We have to do it on the pitch. That is what training is for. It is there to help us get ready and gear up to putting in the best performance that we can.

"They are the best in the world and rightfully so. We are under no illusions that we have things in our game we can tidy up, clean up and get better at. This week's training is to make us get better, look at New Zealand and look at areas where we want to attack and impose ourselves on the game.

"Every time you see New Zealand play there they are fast and physical. They are clinical. We don't want to get over-awed by them or give them too much respect. We have to go and play our game and let them deal with us at times. I think in the past we maybe have sat off them too much, maybe allowed them to play early on in the game. That is something we have to get away from and [instead] think of how we can impose ourselves."

At least Scotland are coming off the back of the kind of showing that holds promise. "We were in control of the game, scored some good tries and the team put in a good performance," said Ford of the win over Argentina.

"It was good to know that, a good feeling. It has been a while we have scored that many tries in a Test match and against that sort of opposition."