England fans have their say on the benching of Ford
Eddie Jones has named his England side to face Australia this Saturday in the World Cup quarter-final and it is a case of turning to what he is most comfortable with.
Mako Vunipola makes his first start since the Six Nations but the most noticeable decision is to drop George Ford and instead use the 10-12-13 combination of Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade that served England so well during the Six Nations this year. This is a decision that has disappointed fans on social media but is not all that surprising.
Jones reprised the Ford-Farrell axis throughout August and the opening stages of the RWC in Slade’s absence and it looked as though Ford had done enough to warrant a starting berth in the big games.
The Leicester Tigers flyhalf has had England’s backline firing, has scored a few tries himself and has shown a masterful tactical kicking game. Although he was not always playing against the highest level opposition, his performance against Argentina was good enough that many would have expected him to start against the Wallabies.
Many fans have pointed out that Ford offers more as a playmaker than Farrell, but the Saracen is more defensively resolute and with Tuilagi at 12, it is a good way to shut down the dangerous Samu Kerevi.
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Tuilagi has proven that he is more potent as a 13, but has equally shown that he has a successful partnership with Slade, which is why Ford has lost out to accommodate Farrell at ten.
It surely came down to very fine margins when selecting the centres and Jones may have simply felt that this was the best combination to face Australia, but some fans have said this has shades of Stuart Lancaster’s selection in 2015.
When the pressure was on the England team, Lancaster reverted to Farrell to start and used Ford as a luxury from the bench.
Eddie Jones has sprung a surprise on the eve of @EnglandRugby's World Cup quarterfinal. https://t.co/4l1zE9gdZ5 #RWC2019 #ENGvAUS
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 17, 2019
This is something that Jones has also done during his tenure, but he stressed the importance of Ford’s role as a finisher. He said: “We have a starting and a finishing team so he’s going to finish for us instead of starting. I spoke to him this morning and obviously he’s disappointed but he knows his role in the team.”
It is for this reason that some fans are not wholly surprised with this decision, as it is something that Ford has had to contend with throughout his England career. This is what has been said:
I think it is mistake dropping Ford. He is a better playmaker than Farrell and Slade hasn’t had enough game time to come in to such a huge game. That midfield was not fantastic in the 6 Nations either. Very nervous now. #AUSvENG
— Dom M (@dommoore31) October 17, 2019
Completely wrong call. Genuinely if I was to drop anyone in the backline, it would be Farrel based on form both here and in the warm ups.
— Tom Tremlett (@TTburgundy) October 17, 2019
Ford dropped and replaced with out of form Farrell?? EJ has gone 2015 Lancaster on the team.
— Tim Tait (@tim_tait) October 17, 2019
Wow! What happened to the Ford/Farrell axis? Ford has been our standout player so far…or was the plan always to do this once we hit the knock out stages to fuck with Australia, All Blacks & Springboks?
— Matthew (@Boisey31) October 17, 2019
Eddie has done a Lancaster & bottled it at 10. @George_Fordy has been the standout fly half during RWC. I suspect Jones fears that Faz can’t cope in defence against their 12- if so he should be benched not Ford. Really annoyed.
— Tom Finn-Kelcey (@TFinnKelcey) October 17, 2019
@George_Fordy has been one of the stand out players of the RWC. Very strange decision from Eddie Jones but sadly not a surprising one.
— David Dyer ?? ?? ? (@dyer145) October 17, 2019
https://twitter.com/ABarrettWrites/status/1184732374053068800?s=20
Liking this team. Hard on Ford, but it was Farrell at 10 and Slade at 13 when England beat Australia last year. Teo was the other centre that day. https://t.co/Hs11gnaXOX
— Nick (@Winn1) October 17, 2019
https://twitter.com/BromheadLt/status/1184676526513520640?s=20
Faz at 10 makes sense, despite how good Ford has been. Absolutely stunned, however, that Nowell isn't on the bench.
— Eddie Stephens? (@EddieStephenss) October 17, 2019
Over the past seven years, Farrell has proven himself to be one of England’s, and indeed world rugby’s most dependable players.
He had an unusually poor game against Argentina with the boot but with more pressure, his performances only improve. Jones and all England fans will hope that is the case this Saturday in Oita.
WATCH: What fans coming to Oita can expect at night during the World Cup quarter-finals
Comments on RugbyPass
The shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to comments