Sale confirm England's George Ford hasn’t travelled to South Africa

Sale boss Alex Sanderson has confirmed that George Ford didn’t travel with them to South Africa for this Saturday’s Investec Champions Cup game away to the Stormers.

The England out-half suffered a bang to his knee near the end of the Sharks’ 17-21 Gallagher Premiership defeat at Northampton on December 30.

He played through to the finish of that league match at Franklin’s Gardens but was marked absent from last Friday’s home loss to Bristol and has since skipped his team’s trip to Cape Town to instead have his knee issue managed at home with a series of injections in the hope of ensuring he is fit for his country’s upcoming Guinness Six Nations campaign.

Joe Simmonds on potential England selection

Joe Simmonds on potential England selection

That championship begins with a February 3 game away to Italy in Rome, a match that England will prepare for in Girona in Spain once the Champions Cup pool stages are completed.

Sale have a round four tie at home to La Rochelle on January 21 after they return from South Africa and director of rugby Sanderson is hoping that Ford will be available for selection.

????? ????, ????? ?????? #SharksAreCircling | @ChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/G7XDTzxVOK

— Sale Sharks ? (@SaleSharksRugby) January 9, 2024

“We are very hopeful that we will see him in a couple of games, a game,” he said from Cape Town on Wednesday afternoon about a Sale schedule that also features a January 28 Premiership match away to Gloucester.

“It’s an MCL, a very low-grade MCL which you can stiffen up with injections, some plasma and stiffen your ligaments up. I’m not going to get medical, technical because I’ll get it wrong – but he is making a good recovery.”

Did he fly with Sale to South Africa? “He didn’t travel, and he didn’t travel because he needs injections in his leg, in his MCL to stiffen it up.

“I would have loved him to be here – we had quite a long conversation, but he just wants to do what is best, as he would do, by his knee for us, for England if selected, so he had two injections this week.”

What should England fans make of his absence? “They’ll be excited, they’ll be very excited. He’ll be fresh,” reckoned Sanderson, who explained how the injury originally happened to Ford at Northampton.

“Last contact in the air, there’s quite a big collision in the air and he takes one on the side of the knee there as he goes for the ball.”

With England skipper Owen Farrell on a Test rugby sabbatical for the Six Nations, Ford is contesting No10 selection with Harlequins’ Marcus Smith and Northampton rookie Fin Smith.

The 30-year-old starred in the role at the World Cup when Farrell was suspended at the start of the tournament, scoring all 27 of England’s points in their opening pool win versus Argentina in Marseille.