1
England explain first-ever selection of Ford/Tuilagi as their 10/12
Steve Borthwick has paid tribute to the talents of George Ford ahead of his first England start in two and a half years. Not since a March 2021 behind-closed-doors Guinness Six Nations hammering away to Ireland has the out-half been chosen as his country’s No10, but that will change this Saturday in Dublin when Ford wears the shirt in a Summer Nations Series clash with the Irish.
ADVERTISEMENT
England boss Borthwick revealed his original plan was to start Owen Farrell against Ireland. He didn’t confirm in what position, but with Farrell having had his training week disrupted by his independent disciplinary hearing, the head coach has turned to Ford to play at 10 alongside Ben Youngs at scrum-half and with Manu Tuilagi running the No12 channel.
It’s the first-ever time that England have gone with a 10/12 combination of Ford with Tuilagi and it’s a massive opportunity for the out-half as it was felt his Test career was possibly over with Eddie Jones placing his trust in a Marcus Smith/Farrell 10/12 combination.
He didn’t feature in this year’s Six Nations despite Borthwick, his old coach from Leicester, taking charge, but he played off the bench in recent weeks against Wales and those two Summer Nations cameos have now been followed by his selection to start against the Johnny Sexton-less Irish.
Asked what he wants to see from Ford at the Aviva Stadium, Borthwick said: “As ever with my players I want them to bring their incredible strengths onto the pitch.
“He [Ford] has got an incredible tactical brain and he thinks the game, he thinks really clearly through the game and has a fantastic skill set both with his distribution skills and his kicking – and I’m looking forward to seeing that partnership with Ben at nine and then the link with Manu at 12.
“It’s great to see Manu back out. I said to you he had a slight tweak, so it delayed when he played his first game. I’m looking to seeing Manu there. These are players, Ben, George and Manu, who have played a lot of rugby together.
ADVERTISEMENT
“It was a plan that George was always going to start one of the (four Summer Nations) games at 10,” continued Borthwick. “Now it is brilliant to see Manu back on the pitch.
“What I see with Manu right now is someone who had slight disruption to his training just for a couple of weeks which delayed him getting onto the pitch in a match, but what I see is someone who is looking sharp, looking powerful, and he is raring to go.
“I have seen him in training this week and I feel he has taken another step forward in our training and that combination of players, the nine, 10, 12 that is playing, has spent a lot of time together through a number of years, not just in the international arena but club rugby as well.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments