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Today

12:05

Six Nations

'Everyone is morphing into some sort of hybrid player': George Ford

By PA

45 days ago

Henry Pollock and Freddie Steward of England applaud the fans following their teams victory of the Guinness Six Nations 2026 match between England and Wales at Allianz Stadium on February 07, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

George Ford insists England’s attack is aiming to capitalise on the emergence of a contingent of hybrid players led by Ben Earl and Henry Pollock.

Earl started Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations rout of Wales at number eight but finished it at inside centre, while roaming flanker Pollock is seen by head coach Steve Borthwick as an option for the wing.

Apart from enabling Borthwick to achieve his preference of ending matches with as many back rows on the field as possible, positional flexibility is seen as crucial for assembling a squad capable of challenging for the 2027 World Cup.

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Both British and Irish Lions forwards will be in action against Scotland on Saturday and Ford believes their dynamism, combined with the physical clout of centres such as Tommy Freeman, is a valuable weapon for England.

“It seems like there are now more players who can swap between back row and centre,” the Sale fly-half said.

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“Ben is a great example. Physically he could pass as a centre – the engine on him, the speed on him, the skills on him, the way he can defend in bigger spaces. Henry is another one.

“Then you look at some of the centres with the ability they have. They end up looking like back-rowers half the time with the way they hit and defend rucks.

“Everyone is morphing into some sort of hybrid player at the minute. It’s great for the game because of the options it gives you, the variety it gives you.

“The athleticism of them all hopefully leads to more entertaining attacking opportunities and getting the ball back quicker, hopefully scoring more tries.”

England had few problems scoring tries against Wales, engineering seven of them in the 48-7 victory at Allianz Stadium, but several chances went begging in an otherwise accomplished 12th successive Test win.

It was part of a noticeable drop off in intensity in the third quarter, a lapse that also affected France in their opening night rout of Ireland. To ensure it is not repeated in Edinburgh, Borthwick’s squad have been implementing a fix.

Ford said: “First we show it so that it’s out in the open. Everyone was sat there and we saw examples and instances of it not being good.

“If you’re sat there in a meeting room watching it and it’s crystal clear, that has a big enough impact and effect straight away.

“There were kick-chase examples. Stuff that sticks out like a sore thumb when you watch it back. The way we work off the ball is a big one – that’s probably the easiest time to have a lapse in concentration.

“Then it’s being aware of it in training, putting it into situations and scenarios. ‘Right lads we’re in the third quarter here, this is the score. How are you going to go and play the game?’

“Then hopefully that transfers to if we find ourselves there on Saturday again, then we can go ‘right, let’s do it’.”

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Comments

4 Comments

dm 43 days ago

It's nothing new. Sir Clive's mission statement was to have wingers who could play as flanker and flankers who could play as centre.

unknown 45 days ago

The hybrid player situation is an interesting one, after previous articles with Ben Earl suggesting he couldn’t play centre and then he is played there again against Wales, was that Earl trying to just put people off the scent, when he knows Borthwick’s plan includes him getting game time there?

The other one i’d like to see is Ollie Lawrence being an option for 12/13 and no 8. His explosive power off the bench at 8 as an option the other way could be very effective, I know he’d have to work on bits of his game for that to be possible, but it is doable and he’s got a good power game. Be interested to hear other people’s thoughts, or other player suggestions?

fl 45 days ago

I think because scrumming at 8 is quite specialist Lawrence might be best packing down at 6 but doing the job generally assigned to an 8. I do think this would only be a good idea in case of injuries though, bc while he gets stereotyped as a power centre he’s actually much more effective attacking in wide channels.

I’m surprised Borthwick keeps putting Earl at 12 - not because he can’t function there, but because I reckon Pollock would be much better.

Chandler-Cunningham South could also probably do a job at centre. He’s less mobile than Earl and Pollock, but there were quite a lot of times in 2024 where he was functioning as England’s widest defender, so he’s clearly mobile enough to function in the wide channels, and he’s got good distribution skills and would be deadly running from deep. Alfie Barbeary (who I think is very unlucky not to have been called up to the national team) is another who seems to lack mobility, but he did play 12 up until he was 18 I think, so it would be interesting to see if he could still do it. He could be a very useful bench player, given he could cover 6, 8, and potentially in case of injury 2 and 12.

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