Alex King proved he still has a part to play in the England set-up with a near faultless display of place-kicking last night.

The former Brighton College outside half slotted an early penalty and then converted ten of 11 tries as England A thrashed their Scottish counterparts 78-6 at Northampton.

England's win was again based around a mobile pack, which included former Haywards Heath flanker Adam Vander.

The Bath breakaway enjoyed his first start at this level.

King, touted as England's great new hope at No. 10 when he burst on to the scene in the mid Nineties, appeared to have drifted out of the reckoning amid doubts over his ability as a top level place-kicker.

He has improved dramatically in that respect over the last couple of seasons and now rivals Jonny Wilkinson in the Premiership goal-kicking stakes.

England chief Clive Woodward ran the rule over him in London Wasps' defeat of Saracens last weekend.

Meanwhile Woodward is backing the thirty-somethings in his pack to turn up trumps and provide a winning hand to silence Scottish taunts in today's Calcutta Cup clash at Twickenham.

Jim Telfer, Scotland's director of rugby, indulged in some pre-match psychology by highlighting the fact that his forwards hold the advantage of youth for the RBS 6 Nations encounter.

Woodward retorted: "I think the whole pack has taken on Jim Telfer's comments.

"I'm looking forward to seeing that the old English legs can still run around the pitch."