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Could George Ford have 'bolted' his way into Lions contention?
By Jon Newcombe
To call a 99-cap international a Lions bolter perhaps goes against the grain but it seems fitting when applied to George Ford given how he came back in from the cold to help hammer in the final few nails in Wales’ coffin last Saturday.
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Before England’s championship finale, Ford hadn’t played international rugby this year and his last appearance was in the 42-37 defeat at home to Australia in the second round of the Autumn Nations Series.
Ford’s selection on the bench for the Cardiff clash instead of a more versatile back attracted plenty of criticism but the recently-turned 32-year-old rolled back the years to produce a 25-minute fly-half masterclass. The Lancastrian received the ball 11 times after coming on for Fin Smith and managed to come up with two sublime try assists
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Impact player, finisher, call him what you will, Ford relished the opportunity to remind everyone what he was about, and his Director of Rugby at Sale Sharks, Alex Sanderson, has gone as far to say that it was the best cameo he’d seen in the Six Nations.
Henry Pollock’s two-try showing against Wales, the way Maxime Lucu stepped up after stepping in for the injured Antoine Dupont against Ireland, and Bundee Aki’s controversial introduction after a struggling Ireland had lost Garry Ringrose to a 20-minute red card against Wales are all worthy of mention, too. But Sanderson is backing his man to use that performance and finish the season strongly.
“Fin Smith has rightly got the credit he deserved but I do think of all the minutes the lads played, George’s [Ford] cameo was the best. He looked so sharp and silenced those critics about his ball-playing ability with those two assists,” said Sanderson.
“I think in the next 12 games he will prove his worth and make a stake potentially for the Lions or more realistically force his way back into the England team.”
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Given what he has achieved with England, Ford must count himself unlucky not to have been capped by the Lions. He looked all set to go to Australia in 2013 but England’s mauling at the hands of Wales in the Six Nations title decider saw him cut from Warren Gatland’s plans with Justin Tipuric chosen instead.
By the time the 2017 tour came around, Owen Farrell, Dan Biggar, Johnny Sexton and Finn Russell were in front of him in the pecking order, while in 2021, he was once again overlooked.
Lions head coach Andy Farrell will name his squad on Thursday 8 May.
Ford wasn’t set to go with the Lions in 2013 - he didn’t even make his England debut until the 2014 6 nations. And while there are instances of players being picked for the Lions before they were capped by their nation, he wasn’t in the conversation.
“He looked all set to go to Australia in 2013 but England’s mauling at the hands of Wales in the Six Nations title decider saw him cut from Warren Gatland’s plans with Justin Tipuric chosen instead.”
I also enjoy the implication that he and Tipuric were competing for the same squad spot. Perhaps on account of Ford not having made his international debut yet, Gatland had never seen him play and just guessed his position?
he’s definitely one of the best fly-halves in Britain and Ireland, but if he does go with the Lions England might be stuck with only Marcus as a valid option at 10 against Argentina, which would be a disaster!