England fly-half George Ford ready to come of age against Ireland

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/22/george-ford-england-ireland-six-nations

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Spare a thought for Paul O’Connell as Ireland prepare to face England in Dublin. Not so long ago he would occasionally see an eight-year-old boy, the son of the team’s then defence coach, around the Ireland training camp. And now? That same kid is England’s first-choice fly-half, perhaps the single biggest threat to Irish hopes of retaining their Six Nations title. If ever there was a week to make O’Connell feel every one of his 35 years, it is this one.

The moral of the story is clear: be nice to ballboys because, eventually, they all grow up. George Ford also tells an amusing tale about being walked down the road and bought an ice-cream by his now Bath colleague Peter Stringer, who may be beginning to regret his generosity.

“He says it is the weirdest thing being in the same half-back pairing as me,” laughs Ford, more than happy to reminisce about the days when the Irish camp was a home away from home.

Ford, now 21, also once made it into the away dressing room following a Six Nations fixture at Twickenham between England and Ireland, for whom his father Mike was working. “My dad brought me into the Ireland changing room and Peter gave me his number nine shirt. I was still young but it fitted me anyway because he was that small. I remind him about that all the time. Strings, David Humphreys, Ronan O’Gara ... my brothers and I used to kick their balls back for them. All the Irish guys were brilliant with us.”

It is an evocative tale with a contemporary edge: the kid is suddenly a man looking to give the Irish a kicking. Jonathan Sexton may be the pivot around whom so much of Ireland’s tactical game revolves, but if England win at the Aviva Stadium it will mark the coming of age of a new petit général. You would never guess, listening to him, that this is Ford’s first Six Nations as a starting 10; a former world junior player of the year, he may well be the best-prepared novice ever to play Test rugby.

An added bonus is that he and Owen Farrell were childhood friends and remain close. Farrell is currently injured but, following Bath’s recent game at Saracens, was still keen to sit down with Ford to discuss how best to defeat Ireland. Stuart Lancaster’s side have already done so three times in succession with Farrell at the helm, the young warrior’s mental strength in the wet in Dublin two years ago truly something to behold. “We sat down and had a chat about loads of things leading up to this game,” Ford revealed. “He knows a few boys from the Lions tour and his past experiences of playing Ireland. To speak to him about that was brilliant.

“He said Irish teams are massively emotional but are very dependent on the breakdown. That is the way they get into the game: disrupting our ball and getting quick ball while doing it. He said Sexton runs the show for them and to try and put him under pressure. These are things we try and do every week anyway, but little things become more important.”

Dig a little deeper and Ford’s CV also boasts a title-deciding victory in Ireland. Age-group rugby is not to be confused with the real thing but England U20s clinched a grand slam in Athlone in 2011 in a game involving several members of Ireland’s current squad. “We had a brilliant U20 team and had gone four games unbeaten before we went away to Ireland,” recalls Ford. “People like Jonathan Joseph, Owen and Joe Launchbury were playing. It proved pretty tough but we managed to get the win.”

The following day, though, Ireland trounced England’s senior XV and denied them a grand slam, if not the Six Nations title. Lancaster has been biding his time ever since, waiting for all his star youngsters to graduate en masse. They are doing so now and Ford has seen enough from, among others, Joseph and Anthony Watson during England’s wins over Wales and Italy to suspect there is more to come. “I think we’re in a good place but we know we can get better in many areas.

“It’s just about trying to do the right things at the right times. Sometimes it will be right to defend or kick, but sometimes it will be right to have a go. It’s not going to be a game where there will be 10 tries scored, but we’ve definitely got some attacking weapons we have to keep using. We need to give those boys the space to keep doing what they can do. You’ve seen how dangerous they are and how they can turn games on their head.”

It is hardly a coincidence, though, that England have looked more alert and less predictable with Ford running the show, even if he argues Ben Youngs deserves as much credit. The next trick is to shape games as consistently as could his heroes Dan Carter, Jonny Wilkinson, O’Gara and Matt Giteau, in their differing ways. “You look at players like that who constantly make good decisions, or are a threat themselves and bring other people into the game. That is a brilliant quality to have as a 10,” said Ford. Which brings us back to Sexton as he prepares to pit his wits against England’s new gunslinger.

Ford is growing in assurance by the week – “With every game you start you feel more comfortable ... I definitely feel more confident” – but he also knows a class act when he sees one. “I think [Sexton] is a brilliant player. You saw it against France after being out for 12 weeks, he drove Ireland to that win. He’s just massively influential, everything goes through him. He’s got a brilliant rugby brain and he’s a very smart player.”

All too soon, though, they may be saying the same about Ford.

There is still more top-level learning to be done but those innocent days when the young man supported Ireland are long gone. “I was still quite young then, always wanting the best for my dad. I wanted Ireland to win, though it was a bit different when they were playing England.” As O’Connell, Sexton and Co are about to discover, the little lad who kicked the practice balls back is not a kid any more.