'There are bigger things that are more critical than us playing in a rugby game'
George Ford says the importance of rugby has been put into perspective by the coronavirus outbreak that has forced the postponement of England’s Guinness Six Nations clash with Italy.
Tournament organisers are searching for a new date to stage the Stadio Olimpico showdown, which was due to be held on March 14 but has been pushed back until later in the year rather than being played behind closed doors.
England’s penultimate-round fixture against Wales at Twickenham on Saturday is unaffected and is now potentially the senior squad’s last outing until they gather for the autumn series. Ford recalls the impact Super Typhoon Hagibis had on last autumn’s World Cup as covid-19’s spread causes chaos of a different nature.
“When we were in Japan there was the typhoon… there are bigger things that are more critical than us playing in a rugby game,” he said. “There are important things other than playing against Wales. You speak about family all the time and there are things that happen in your life all the time.”
Ford says coronavirus has caused minimal disruption to England’s preparations for Wales’ visit to south west London. “It’s been a completely normal week. We went out for food together on Wednesday night,” the Leicester fly-half said.
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Episode four of The Breakdown
“In terms of hygiene, not much has changed because we want to be pretty red hot on that anyway. It’s just reminders more than anything to keep good habits around camp. It’s hard to believe, but we’re genuinely just concentrating on the game on Saturday first and foremost. It will be a tough enough challenge as it is.”
Eddie Jones echoes Ford’s view by claiming England’s only aim is to topple their old rivals while tuning out the turmoil that has engulfed the Six Nations and other sports amid mounting concerns over public health. “The only thing I’m focused on is Wales. There’s going to be 82,000 people yelling and screaming, knowing we’re going to play a really tough, positive game of rugby,” Jones said.
“We’ve probably had our best training run of the Six Nations. We’re not far underneath where we were at the World Cup now in terms of physical condition and the intensity we can potentially play with.”
Jones has targeted Saturday’s showdown for England to peak in the 2020 Six Nations and the Australian has a score to settle. A year ago England were powering towards the Grand Slam as they followed up emphatic victories over Ireland and France by building a 10-3 half-time lead in Cardiff that eventually spiralled into a 21-13 defeat.
Wales went on to be crowned champions and the setback at the Principality Stadium still rankles ahead of Wayne Pivac’s first visit to Twickenham since replacing Warren Gatland in November. “You never like to lose to Wales – and we lost last year. We were in the position we were in at half-time and we’ve learned from that,” said Jones, who steered England into the Yokohama final where they lost 32-12 to South Africa.
“That was one of the key games that got us in our best condition for the World Cup. It’s still a game that I’m sure irks every player who played in it. It certainly irks me. You’ve got to remember they beat us last year, so we owe them one. England-Wales games are a little bit different. They go down to the wire.”
The postponement of Italy means England could be saying goodbye to two stalwarts on Saturday – George Kruis, who is weighing up an option from Japanese club rugby, and Leicester-bound assistant coach Steve Borthwick.
“George is fantastic. Great team man, great work rate. Couldn’t ask for a bloke who plays tougher for the team,” Jones said. “Steve’s been an unbelievable servant for English rugby. He’s done a great job for the team for the last five years. He’s going to turn out to be an outstanding coach.”
– Press Association
WATCH: Wayne Pivac sets the scene ahead of Wales’ visit to Twickenham
Comments on RugbyPass
Results probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
1 Go to commentsThe 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 comments