10-10. One minute left. Our scrum. Our fly half comes over to me (inside centre) and my teammate (outside centre) with urgency and quickly runs through a play he wants us to attempt. It was something we had practised maybe once or twice at the end of a training session months previous. “It’ll put me straight through the gap between their 12 and 13 if we pull it off”, he says, “and I’ll have the pace to get past the full back from that angle.” In an already tense game, this seemed (to an amateur such as myself) like a risky tactic. 60 seconds later and we were celebrating a try. Our fly half had received the ball, we had made the dummy runs that he suggested and he had found the unlikely gap and run nearly the full length of the pitch to score the winning try. Our fly half was George Ford and this was when I knew I’d been lucky enough to play alongside a future England international.
On Saturday, George Ford will make his first international start as England look to end a run of five games without a win against Samoa. His inclusion in the England side will come as no surprise to those who have played alongside him. I played in the same school team as Ford for four years as a teenager and although I was no talent myself and my knowledge of rugby was extremely limited, I could see that he had the ability and attitude to make it at the top one day.
So far, Ford has only made four appearances, all from the bench, for his country. He is also set to take over kicking duties from his long-term friend and rival Owen Farrell at Twickenham this weekend. Farrell will move into inside centre as Stuart Lancaster tries to end a rotten run of results by switching up the uninspired formula that has plagued England in recent weeks.
“It’s about George taking control and running the ship as he wants to run it,” said England head coach Stuart Lancaster. “He is ready to take the lead role and I’m sure he will do it well.
“He is a confident, fine, mature rugby player. His experience is far beyond his age. Earlier in the week I said, right, you’re the boss, get bossing.”
I have witnessed first-hand the naturally, in-built aptitude that Ford has in a commanding role. Despite being (relatively) small in stature, he is able to demand respect and generate quality from the players around him through his personal approach and capability to perform consistently.
“I’m massively excited about it and very proud,” said Ford. “You’ve got to be a boss and organise at 10, try to make the team click as much as you can. We have a couple of good game managers out there this weekend so there should be improvements.”
I have no doubt that Ford’s kicking ability will shine through when tested, and he has an element of flair to his game that England have been lacking recently. My only concerns stem from the players outside him. Are Farrell and Brad Barritt a centre partnership that will bring England success at the World Cup 2015?
Ford has a real opportunity to provide Lancaster with a selection headache if he performs well this weekend. If he can grasp this and make the most of it then I feel that the real question will surround Farrell, and indeed whether he should be playing at all.
England play Samoa at Twickenham on Saturday, kick off 19:00 GMT.
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