The stunning transformation of George Ford
Two weeks ago, Leicester dished up one of the worst opening performances in recent memory, leading to the sacking of head coach Matt O’Connor.
Since that decision the Tigers have rebounded emphatically, blitzing Newcastle in the first half in their home opener at Welford Road and piling 35 points on at the Ricoh despite being down to 14-men for most of the match.
Worries of a dead cat bounce look to be misguided after the follow-up 6-point loss to Wasps, as the schizophrenic Tigers have transformed into a dangerous attacking side and one man at the centre of this is flyhalf George Ford.
He is playing like the weight has been lifted off his shoulders, without the fear of repercussions, ripping teams apart with guile and daring bravado.
You can’t go from being that bad to this good overnight. There is only one explanation for this, and it is a sad indictment on O’Connor – he is a coach who gets the worst out of his players, and that is the worst kind of coach.
When a coach is at odds with his team, restraining their natural talents and failing to find a way for their skills to flourish, the conflict permeates into performance. Ford’s aimless and meandering play under O’Connor’s direction has disappeared overnight, replaced by an attacking genius looking to tear teams apart with ball-in-hand.
The shackles have been removed and we are seeing the best of George Ford – 5 line breaks, 12 defenders beaten, three try assists and one try for himself in just two games. That doesn’t include the involvement in the lead-up work to many other Tiger tries.
It can be impossible from the outside to know how the players are feeling about their coach, or how their relationship with the coach is impacting their play. But in this case, the evidence is overwhelming. There has been no change except for the removal of Matt O’Connor and Ford is now, statistically, the best attacking 10 in the competition.
The Tigers have opened up the playbook, looking to run from their own 22 at times, testing the defence before exiting. They are actually gelling from set-piece attack and in phase play, and Ford’s play has been instrumental in all of this.
It might seem harsh on O’Connor, but this is a coach who has been sacked or let go from the last three teams he’s been at, with the same issues persisting at each stop over the last five years. The modern game is evolving at such rapid pace as rule changes bring about new strategies, every four years is like a decade in rugby years. When coaches are employed based on successes from the late 2000’s or even early 2010’s, it can be like still using a Nokia flip phone when the iPhone is here. Unless they have evolved as well it is a recipe for disaster.
Why teams continue to hand out contracts to old relics is a mystery, and now after O’Connor’s third failed stint in a row, this should surely be the end until he proves himself in lower grades. He should be on every club’s blacklist until that happens, unless they want to nosedive fast.
One man can make all the difference, which is why O’Connor had to go – without him Leicester, and George Ford, are far better off.
In other news:
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