It is probably just as well that George Ford says he does not read the newspapers. In recent weeks the flak has certainly been flying for him and his team, Bath.
Goodness, last weekend one columnist even described Ford as playing at the moment like an “arthritic donkey”. That is harsh in the extreme, but nevertheless it does signpost that this is probably the first time in Ford’s career that he has attracted some severe censure.
Last season’s highs when Ford was orchestrating his side’s free-flowing progress to the Aviva Premiership final, as well as at times pulling England’s strings cleverly in the Six Nations, seem an awful long time ago.
Ford has made an underwhelming start to the new season
Ford was dropped to the bench for England’s two vital matches in the Rugby World Cup against Wales and Australia and has simply not hit anything approaching his best form for Bath since.
And so Bath sit a lowly eighth in the Premiership, having handed Newcastle their first league victory of the season last weekend.
Let’s start with Ford himself then. He is not playing well. There is no escaping that. To me it appears that he has made more errors this season than in all his time at Bath since 2013. Only his goal kicking is above criticism (especially when winning the recent European Champions Cup match at Wasps with the final kick), having a success rate of just under 83% in the Premiership, better than that of his great rival, Owen Farrell, before this weekend's games began.
Newcastle swept to a shock success over Bath recently
But it is difficult for a player to admit that he is struggling, especially with an England squad to be announced this week and especially as Ford could easily mention that his pack, or indeed the scrum-halves selected inside him, have not always given him the ball he has wanted this season.
He does touch upon the team’s travails when saying -“I think that it is like anything, when the team as a whole are not performing as well as they can be, it is a bit difficult sometimes” – but it is little surprise when he says: “I think the basics of my game have been good.” Maybe it has been shrewd thinking that has seen him on the bench in Bath’s last two games against Newcastle and Worcester, with the Welshman Rhys Priestland starting. Maybe he should have had that break earlier.
Ford claims "the basics of my game have been good"
“The option was given to us whether we wanted to come back straight away after the World Cup or have a rest,” says Ford. “I felt good at the time. I had a few days off after the first four games and the plan was for me to have a game here and there to be on the bench. Whenever those games were going to be I wasn’t sure, but it has been the last two and I have freshened up even more now. Not that I was tired in the first place really.” There have been those, though, who have wondered whether the RWC has had some lasting effect on his confidence.
“Obviously you are disappointed to go out in the Pool stages,” he says. “And I was disappointed to get taken out of the team for the Wales game. I am not going to say I wasn’t, but you soon get over that. It was probably something I didn’t see coming. I don’t think I necessarily did anything to be taken out of the team but they thought that was the best team to beat Wales and you back that. From a confidence point of view I was fine, I just wanted to get straight back into it.” But that Ford/Farrell debate at fly-half for England is about to raise its head again, which has always seemed a trickier issue because the pair went to school together and remain good friends.
“The relationship has just carried on as it was,” says Ford. “You understand that in professional sport tough decisions are made but you have got to look at the bigger picture and not let it affect your relationship.” Maybe they can play together, with Ford at 10 and Farrell at 12 as they did in the final Rugby World Cup match against Uruguay.
Against Uruguay, Ford and Farrell were deployed alongside one another
“I have always enjoyed it to be honest,” says Ford. “We played together through the age groups and obviously a couple of times for the seniors as well. He is a great guy to play with. He brings what he brings in terms of his competitiveness and he is a pretty similar mindset to me.” But surely for that to happen Ford will need to start performing better for Bath. Or maybe Bath need to start performing better, beginning with the re-arranged European Champions Cup clash away at Toulon today, for Ford to shine.
“We haven’t played as well as we normally can,” he says. “We have had some disappointing results but that doesn’t make us a bad team at all. The Newcastle game was a wake-up call for us. If you do not turn up against any team in the Premiership they are going to beat you. We usually get match reports after a game, which give the key stats and comments from the coaches, but this week the players put their own comments on and gave them to the coaches. The players were honest about their performances and that makes it easier to move on because the lads identified that it was not good enough.” But what has not been good enough?
Ford desperately needs to put in a good performance against Toulon
“It is not one particular thing,” says Ford. “We have had games where our ball control has let us down, others where our discipline has let us down. It is a variety of things.” Some have said that Bath’s attacking game, their famed ‘diamond formation’ has been found out.
“I don’t think so,” he says. “I think that if you look at the tries we have scored this season we have scored some good tries from our attacking shape. I think what has let us down has been that we have held the ball for long enough. Having said that, teams are defending a bit better against us, more tactical in the numbers they put in the line and numbers on their feet. It is a good challenge for us and we have to be smart and think of other ways to break them down.” The weather may not have helped.
The fly-half is still recognised as one of England's best young players
“It has been wet this season: I can’t remember the last time it was dry,” he says. “It is the wind as well and the combination makes it difficult to attack. There has not been much rugby played, to be honest. We are confident results will pick up and the sooner it becomes sunny, the better for us.” The forecast is decent for Toulon this afternoon.
“In a funny sort of way, it is a great game for us because we understand if we do not turn up at the weekend and if we perform as we did against Newcastle, they will make us pay,” he says.
They certainly will.
• If Newcastle were relegated it would be bad for health of English rugby
• George: What really motivates me is to make my family proud
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét