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The major 'but' about George Ford's 100th cap for England

George Ford of England speaks with Andrew Strawbridge, England Rugby Assistant Coach, prior to the rugby international match between England XV and France XV at Allianz Stadium on June 21, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Patrick Khachfe/Getty Images)
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George Ford is phlegmatic about his landmark outing for England, insisting he will treat his 100th Test appearance as “another day at the office”.

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Having been once again overlooked for a place in the British and Irish Lions squad this summer, Ford has the consolation of becoming the eighth man to bring up a century of England caps.

Ford, who made his international debut in the 2014 Six Nations, is set to co-captain the side against Argentina at La Plata on Saturday alongside Jamie George, another member of the England 100 club.

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But while the Sale fly-half will appreciate the milestone, he has not lost sight of his over-riding aim of getting England’s summer off to a winning start in the first of two Tests against the Pumas.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to play a few times for England, I haven’t lost the desire or how honoured or privileged I am to do it,” the 32-year-old told several national newspapers.

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12 - 35
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“But what experience tells you is that, even though it’s a milestone, it’s just the next England game in terms of trying to perform well. It’s another day at the office.

“It’s an unbelievably proud moment for me and, more importantly, my family. But the most important thing is the team and getting a good result. The whole bigger picture doesn’t change.

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“It’s England-Argentina and we want to win and perform really well. I’ve not felt much different, it’s just trying to do the right thing for the team, even though there is a bit more noise about it.”

England have won 21 of their 27 meetings against Argentina, including in the group stages of the 2023 World Cup and then later on in the tournament’s bronze final.

However, Argentina prevailed the last time the two teams met at Twickenham in 2022 and Felipe Contepomi’s side warmed up for this clash by beating the Lions in Dublin last month.

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NoLongerARuck 52 minutes ago
The Gallagher Prem may have become the new Super Rugby - and attack is here to stay

Comparing these two games is like comparing rotten apples with rotten oranges. Both are unpalatable, inedible and likely to make you sick. If I wanted to watch fast athletes leaping over obstacles I would watch the 200m hurdles at an IAAF event because static hurdles are what the Bath defenders seemed like against the Northampton backs. Northampton unleashed just 80 rucks for 19 line breaks. Bath barely made them work for 71 points. It was embarrassing with simple moves overloading the defence leading to simple scores and lets not talk about the missed tackles. The Saints defence wasnt as forgiving but it still looked like flat straight road with just a few tricky corners. The Prem is the new Super Rugby in terms of scores but not in terms of grit and substance. It has none of that and when these teams hit the Champs cup they meet true grit in the form of the French.

As for the Stormers vs Sharks I was doing meal prep and between chopping onions I shed a tear for the rugby being played out there. It was dreary with few rucks being built and pens, kicks, scrums and mauls being the order of the day. I turned on the tv to watch SFM, Damian Willemse, Giant Andre and nippy Edwill to name but a few but I got some one-dimensional dros served up in a typically rubbish South African derby. 63 kicks, 30 lineouts, 22 pens, 31 turnovers and ball in play of probably 25mins. Just 230 passes and 120 rucks between both sides, it was one out rugby to say the least. Imagine being asked to just make 81 tackles in a match and you still concede 39 points and miss 21 of them for less than 75%. It shows you how little the Stormers played and how poorly the Sharks defended. If you werent convinced by how little the Stormers played by that stat just look at the rucks built, 45 only, its like they played one half of rugby but thats actually a whole games worth for them.



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NoLongerARuck 1 hour ago
Second-half Bledisloe capitulation lays bare Wallabies’ lack of bench depth

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Australia didnt get any of the outcomes which they wanted off the high balls as well with the normally reliable JAS struggling. JAS struggled with his tackling as well and Potter and Henry were effectively cannon fodder for best centre in the world Jordie and his mercurial teammate Tupaea. Mcreight was also played out the game completely. Wilson was fantastic and the best player on the park with 28 tackles and no misses, a true captains knock. The lineout also went well and they must repeat the dose this weekend. The Wallabies must do better this week at home in several areas. If they can win this one it could be the catalyst for great things to come. This is probably the biggest test of the year for the Wallabies and a true test of their credentials for the showpiece next year.



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