George Ford finished this year’s Six Nations in such style there were some who wondered whether Owen Farrell would ever be England’s first-choice fly-half again, but the question is now being reversed after Farrell regained his place during the World Cup and has since shown the best form of his career at Saracens.
While Saracens have flourished, the team they defeated in last year’s Premiership final, Bath, have struggled domestically with two wins in six Premiership matches and two defeats at home. Ford had returned to the Recreation Ground immediately after the World Cup rather than take a break to get over his disappointment with England and has played in all the team’s matches this season, having the final word in last weekend’s important European victory at Wasps.
Being dropped for the World Cup group match against Wales was the biggest setback in the career of the 22-year-old Ford, who on Tuesday signed a new two-year contract with Bath. Earlier in the year England had become wedded to an attacking game that complemented Ford’s adventure and their return to a more conservative approach backfired as they lost to the Welsh and a week later were knocked out of their own World Cup after defeat by Australia at Twickenham.
“It was a setback for me at the time,” Ford says. “No one wants to lose their place in the team but as a professional player you have to get over it pretty quickly and give 100% to the cause. In my case, it meant doing so from the bench. The disappointment I felt after the World Cup was not personal but for the squad because we had worked so hard and were going home early.
“It was the first major disappointment I had had to deal with in my senior career and you learn from it. I spoke to my family and it was hard because I had been dropped for a big World Cup game. I had an hour on the phone and then it was about helping England. Owen is a good friend of mine and we support each other. Saracens are going really well this season but England have a new head coach in Eddie Jones and the coming weeks will see what he wants.”
Jones has said he wants to preserve England’s traditional strengths of set-piece nous and defence with a more varied attacking game. It is an approach that should suit Ford but Farrell is on form and so far England’s management team are made up of coaches who have all been involved with Saracens.
“The appointment of coaches is out of the control of players and you have to get on with it,” Ford says. “You have to build relationships and play well for your club. We have not had the best of starts to the season but I hope the win at Wasps marks a turning point. We have not been playing badly but teams have worked out ways of trying to stop our attacking game and we have needed to become smarter in the way we think and operate.
“I wanted to get straight back into action with Bath after the World Cup. I could have taken a holiday but it would probably have meant a week’s sulking and what good would that have done? I just wanted to get back on to the training field and start playing again.
“It was an easy decision to sign a new contract because I am happy here and thrive on our open style of play: I did not ask my agent if other clubs had shown an interest in me and just told him to reach a deal with Bath.”
Bath may have catching up to do in the Premiership but in the European Champions Cup they are well placed having won two matches out of two and will go to the top of their group if they defeat Wasps at the Rec on Saturday having won on Sunday thanks to Ford’s late touchline conversion.
“It was a big kick and I felt relief when it went over because the forwards had worked so hard and they deserved the victory. I have been happy with my form overall and we adapted well at Wasps. Our policy will always be to run, but there are times when you have to kick or take the ball up. It is a matter of making the right decisions at the right times.
“We have an amazingly talented back division and a really good pack. We have been there or thereabouts for the last couple of seasons and now it is about kicking on. You always learn as a player which is why for me the World Cup will be an experience that will make me better, disappointing though it was.
“Rugby is moving away from the physicality that predominated a few years ago to a game that also exploits skill and pace. It is what we have at Bath and what Eddie Jones wants to bring to England. It should make for exciting times.”
