Nick Cain’ column: George Ford still gets my England vote over Owen Farrell

Ford or Farrell? It was predictable that the meeting of two fly-halves who have been close friends since schooldays, and are now arch rivals for the England No.10 jersey, would become the main media focus at the Premiership final.
It was also not a bolt from the blue when Owen Farrell, who was ousted by George Ford as the Red Rose first choice fly-half in the autumn, would produce his best performance of the season to help Saracens win the title. After a disappointing, injury-hit season he had plenty to prove.
Farrell was back to his bristling, close-to-the-edge best in the contact area, as Anthony Watson soon found out. He was at the heart of the ferocious Saracens offensive-defence, a sharp fang in the wolf-pack snarl that had Bath, and Ford, on the hop for most of the match.
On top of that he reminded us of his credentials as a big match player every time he nailed a kick at goal with unhurried, smooth strikes from all points of the Bath half. Add a keen tactical appreciation of the Saracens requirements on the day, distributing soundly, and unpicking the scrambled Bath defence to score the opening try, and it was a strong statement.
By comparison, Ford was less influential. He was not helped by the Bath pack failing to get any traction in the decisive first-half, but, even so, we had been told earlier in the season how Ford runs the show at the Rec, calling the moves and dictating where Bath attack from, and with what tempo.
It was not that he did anything glaringly wrong at Twickenham last weekend. His passing was certainly much more judicious than Kyle Eastmond’s, and his tactical kicking, bar missing touch from a penalty, passed muster. He also kicked every penalty opportunity he was given, finishing with four from four attempts.
It was more that he was unable to divine a way for Bath to grab the tactical initiative by, say, setting themselves up within range of the Saracens 22 rather than running the ball from deep in their own territory. It was as if his team-mates, and the increasingly hushed Bath fans in the crowd, were expecting him to produce an inspirational moment of brilliance to spark them into life.
It wasn’t to be, but that expectation was testament to just how good Ford has been for both club and country since he was picked to start at 10 ahead of Farrell against Samoa in the autumn, with England in dire straits after defeats by New Zealand and South Africa.
Rewind six months and the criticism of a straight-jacketed, uninspired Farrell was growing, along with dark rumblings of backroom nepotism as a result of his father, Andy, being England backs coach.
It was only then that England head coach Stuart Lancaster eased aside Farrell in favour of Ford. The Bath fly-half’s arrival galvanised an England backline in which the still out-of-sorts Farrell was moved to inside-centre, and by the final win of the autumn against Australia, while Ford was spreading his wings, he had been benched.
With England at least emerging from the series with some momentum, and Farrell sidelined by injury, there was only one contender to start the Six Nations at fly-half. Ford responded by using his playmaking and passing skills to liberate an England backline which hitherto had had a tendency to stick to the playbook manual provided by the coaches.
By playing on the gain-line with his head up and scanning for opportunities, Ford helped to turn the English backline, and Jonathan Joseph in particular, into the most prolific strike force in the Six Nations. It culminated in the try bonanza against France on the final Saturday of the season, with England again missing out on the title narrowly on points difference to Ireland, for a second successive season.
Ford’s contribution for Bath was no less emphatic, culminating in their crushing 47-10 victory over Leicester in the play-offs a fortnight ago. He rounded off an attacking masterclass by gliding through himself for one of Bath’s seven tries, emphasising the multiple threats he presents to opponents.
Credit to Saracens for shutting him down, but when it comes to who takes what place on the England fly-half podium between Farrell and Ford then over the course of this season, and leading into the World Cup, the Bath man is in the gold-medal position by a long way.