It is unwise to base England’s future direction of travel solely on one game but the wise money would seem to be on George Ford being Steve Borthwick’s man now.
The World Cup is still two years away but the direction Ford offered against the All Blacks was so baked in, the feel for the moment so impressive, he is shaping to be the figure England’s head coach backs as his No.10 as England build towards Australia 2027.
Supremely efficient in a stripped-back way against the Wallabies in England’s first match of the autumn, Ford was utterly masterful against New Zealand.
At 32, Ford has evolved into the supreme strategist. He has absorbed everything there is to learn about the fly-half’s art and every choice he makes now appears to be the correct one. The back-to-back drop goals just before half time at the Allianz Stadium hinted at a Lancastrian version of AI.
Eleven years on from his international debut, this is the finished article of Ford and England are benefiting hugely from his presence.
That does not mean he should start against Argentina this weekend, however. In fact there is a very strong argument against it.
If Fin Smith is going to be Ford’s back-up act at the next World Cup – and that too would seem the likely play from Borthwick given namesake Marcus is used by England much more often at full-back now – then he needs more caps before the next World Cup.
At the moment he has 14 of them – only five of which have been as a starter.
At 34, if England were to lift the Webb Ellis Cup, Ford would eclipse Dan Carter as the oldest World Cup-winning stand-off.
Test rugby cannot simply be about one tournament every four years but the World Cup is the benchmark. If England want to be in prime shape for two years’ time, Borthwick has to engineer more opportunities for Smith. That way, should something unfortunate befall Ford, then Smith is as prepared as he can be.
Ford will have a lot of miles on the clock by the next World Cup. At 34, if England were to lift the Webb Ellis Cup, he would eclipse Dan Carter as the oldest World Cup-winning stand-off.
Even with a good run of health, it is likely Borthwick will need to use him smartly and rotate in another No 10 at some point during the tournament.
Smith will learn a lot just from interacting with Ford in the England camp. The pair get on well despite the nine-year age gap and their different backgrounds.
Smith has spoken warmly about how well they rub along despite being rivals for the same jersey.
“I wouldn’t say either of us have big egos so it’s not particularly difficult,” said Smith.
“Obviously on the rugby pitch you go hammer and tongs at each other but the other 20 hours in a day you’re catching up as mates and wanting to be genuine with each other. It’s not too challenging.
I’ve got one of the best 10s in the world with tons and tons of experience there – you’d be a bit naive not to want to learn off him and ask questions of him.
“Fordy is a super-genuine person – whether it’s asking about families or partners or just taking the mickey out of each other – it’s an easy and relaxed relationship. And Marcus is the same.”
He added: “We’re different age brackets and upbringings maybe but we’re both pretty nausey about our rugby and enjoy sharing our thoughts and opinions on the game.
“For me I’ve got one of the best 10s in the world with tons and tons of experience there – you’d be a bit naive not to want to learn off him and ask questions of him.
“There’s plenty of times when I ask him what little tips and techniques he has in certain situations, and he does the same – probably less so because he has been there and seen it all, but he often asks what my thoughts are on the best ways to exploit defences.”
You are never too old to learn. It is fairly obvious though who stands to gain the most from the arrangement. Smith has access to one of the smartest rugby brains around.
In that sense he is fortunate. There comes a point though where the classroom isn’t enough. He needs to play too.
Borthwick has already given Smith one start this autumn against Fiji and a few minutes off the bench when the game was won against Australia. He now has to decide whether to give him another run against Argentina.
The easy decision would be to stick with Ford. He is coming off the back of one the finest games of his England career after all, the team is on a roll and the Sale stand-off is one of the key drivers behind that.
England suddenly look like they could become World Cup contenders. If they have two interchangeable top-drawer options at No.10 when the tournament arrives, that is only going to help their cause.
Borthwick’s remit though is the long term as well as the here and now and that means investing time in Smith.
It is easy to forget given how assured he can look on the field, just where Smith is on his experience journey. While Ford has passed 100 Tests for England, Smith has only just reached 100 club games for Worcester and Northampton.
Ford has played eight Tests against the Pumas; two as recently as this summer. Smith has never had the pleasure. This is just the sort of game where he will learn something new.
It feels a little strange to be speaking of them in such stark master and apprentice terms. After all, Smith kept Ford out of the team in the last Six Nations and, by extension, kept him out of the summer’s British and Irish Lions tour as well. Smith is already a very good No 10 – and could go on to become a better one than Ford given he is the superior defender – yet he cannot help his age.
Ford is playing so well because he has seen every picture on an international rugby field before. There are a few new ones for Smith still to discover.
Smith will continue to keep on developing at Northampton under the guidance of Phil Dowson and Sam Vesty. He has half the England backline there to work with but Test rugby is different. In the glimpses we have seen of Smith so far he looks like he is cut from the right cloth to make a success of it. But he can only continue to grow with exposure.
It is all very well being included in the wider squad that Maro Itoje name-checked for helping to prepare the match-day 23 for their win over New Zealand, but that can only take a player so far.
If Borthwick is smart, he will continue to shuffle his cards. England suddenly look like they could become World Cup contenders. If they have two interchangeable top-drawer options at No.10 when the tournament arrives, that is only going to help their cause.
Whilst I was delighted with our win against the AB’s and thought we were the better team watching the game (especially in the 2nd half), I was a little surprised by the stats when I looked at them on Sunday.
ENG (1st) vs NZ (2nd) stats from the weekend;
Possession 45% vs 55%
Territory 47% vs 53%
Carries 103 vs 130 NZ
Passes 113 vs 170
Defs Beaten 17 vs 24
Rucks 76 vs 111
Then the big number, which changed everything;
Tackles 191 (ENG) vs 120 (NZ) which also ties in with the ruck numbers.
Whilst the drop goals and the try scored with Codie Taylor in the bin were probably the main difference on the scoreboard, this actually made me realise this game was won by the defence, which constrained a busier attacking side from scoring points.
If anything, it shows you what this side should be capable of once we start to build a more consistent possession based attack, which is more Fin Smith than George Ford but we will see what happens in the 6N’s.
I’m a bit confused where all this George Fordmania is coming from.
Don’t get me wrong, he played well, he’s one of our 10 options, he’s great with drop goals but there are a few things we need to consider before we crown him the King of England 10’s as the media appear to be doing at the moment.
The reality is ENG have 3 very different fly halves that Steve Borthwick will be choosing from, who all have different strengths and weaknesses . . . . and that’s before you even consider if Owen Farrell will be brought back into the fold before the RWC (let’s leave that one parked for now shall we).
George Ford has the best tactical kicking game of the 10’s. He is the most experienced with +100 caps, his passing game is good but is often secondary to his kicking game but he also has the most passive defence of the 10’s (let’s just get that out of the way for now).
Fin Smith’s skill is the speed of his distribution and how he gets the most from his entire backline. He moves the ball very quickly and tends to reach the outside 13 channel before the defence can shut them down, creating more space for other players. He is the best defender of the 3, whilst also having a strong cross kick game, who leads probably the best attack in the Premiership with his Saints team-mates and is the most consistent across all the areas with the least obvious weakness.
Marcus has the best individual running 10 game and can make a difference at the end of games. The criticism would be that he often overplayed his running game threat last year at 10 and was often flattened by defenders before he could move the ball at this level. He has been playing 15 to give him more time on the ball but once they return from injury we have far better options than Marcus at 15, so that does have limited value as a 10 but some usefulness as to why he would be considered on the bench.
Where I don’t quite buy the George Fordmania of the press is that if George was as good as they were claiming, why has he struggled to get Sale into the Premiership Final? Why did they nearly miss the playoffs by having such a low bonus point scoring average. Why do they score so few tries in the season? These are not small omissions, these are some seriously big questions we should be willing to debate.
Then you compare with Fin Smith, who has potentially led the most potent ball in hand attack since he took over from Dan Biggar, the former Lions starting 10 that Saints fans have hardly missed? This is the same Fin Smith that has navigated his team to the top of the Premiership and won Saints the title the year before, whilst guiding them to the Investec Final last season. That’s quite some CV for a young player to have amassed.
Thus, when you look at those sort of facts, it also explains why Fin Smith was taken with the Lions, leaving George Ford to work with Lee Blackett in the summer, which they have carried over this Autumn and why that decision may not have been the wrong one after all.
I absolutely believe George Ford is one of our 10 options (and we will need a few in the years ahead) but as the rest of the Saints start to fill the backline (from injury), I think you will also see Fin Smith being given the 10 shirt to lead in the 6 Nations as he did last year (and by the way how good was our attack last year?).
However, the person that will make this decision is likely to be Lee Blackett. Ultimately one player moves the ball forwards with his kicking, whilst the other attacks the outside edges with ball in hand, with lots more movement.
Ultimately, he will have to decide is the new ENG based on the Sarries/Sale defence, with a Sale type attack, or is he looking for a combination of Sarries/Sale in defence, with the Saints style attack. Whatever the answer to that question will likely dictate who he plays at 10.
It’s nice to have some different options but you would think this would be a wider debate than declaring Ford as king and Fin Smith being left in the media wake. It just seems a bit premature given what he did last year and where his team is sitting in the PREM.
I think he was given the Autumn but don’t be too surprised if it’s Fin Smith’s turn in the Spring.
He should pick Ford against Argentina.
I don't have a particular foot in either camp, both are very good 10s but Borthwick wants to go with the experience and I don't blame him. After Ford's performance the shirt is his to lose and we can't beat the ABs and change the 10 the following week. We need to build momentum.
The problem is getting Fin minutes off the bench with a 6-2 split. Fin does need more game time but starting him against Argentina isn't the time for it. Let's try to build on the success of the ABs game before we worry about minutes for the backup 10 for a tournament in 2 years time.
Think there should be more articles about how England could win the Six Nations as opposed to the World Cup, which is still a while away.
Indeed! Let's concentrate on the 6N. We won one game against an out of form ABs. Argentina have done that several times in the last few years. Can we please stop making references to England potentially winning the world cup. I get what the author is saying - the aim is to win the world cup and there isn't a precedent for any flyhalf as old as Ford doing that but let's just use other ways of describing that Ford isn't a spring chicken than talking about winning world cups after 1 win against the ABs.
ABs won a RWC with a 4th choice 10 who had to cut short his fishing trip.
It was the right move.
Nah.
In 2023, SA’s backup fly-half (come the final) was Libbok, who started the comp with only 9 caps.
In 2011 NZ’s backup fly-half (Slade) started the comp with 5 caps. Injuries to Slade & Carter led to Cruden ending up as 1st choice despite only having 7 caps.
In 2007 SA’s 1st choice fly-half (James) started the comp with only 18 caps.
There’s clearly no reason to think you need a massively experienced 2nd choice fly-half to do well at a world cup. In 2025 Fin Smith got 7 caps, so I’d back him to get at least 7 more before things kick off in Australia in 2 years time. That would give him 21 caps total, which isn’t much less than his counterparts had going into the tournaments I didn’t mention above:
In 2019 SA’s backup fly-half (Jantjies) started the comp with 35 caps.
In 2015 NZ’s backup fly-half (Barrett) started the comp with 30 caps.
In 2003, England’s backup fly-half (Grayson) started the comp with 27 caps.
What about 87, 91, 95, 99, 07, and 11?