By Matthew Luddington
Simon Halliday has commended George Ford‘s outstanding performance against Argentina, describing it as “pretty special.”
He also expressed the view that Owen Farrell should not regain his starting position when he returns from suspension.
Ford, playing at fly-half, played a pivotal role in England’s victory over Argentina by kicking three drop goals and six penalties, accumulating 27 points. Notably, he managed the game expertly even when England was down to 14 men due to Tom Curry’s early red card.
Halliday, a former England back who played in the 1991 World Cup, believes that Ford should continue at fly-half, with Farrell not meriting selection at inside centre due to not being a “special” player in his eyes.
Halliday stated: “George Ford was man of the match. Kicking three drop goals was pretty special. The forwards as a collective knuckled down after Curry was sent off, and overcame the adversity.”
Regarding Ford remaining at fly half when Farrell returns, Halliday added. “It’s tricky to justify moving Ford. England have messed around in the midfield for a long period of time.
“I think you should pick centres in the centre. The exception would be if you need to fit in a special player, but I don’t think Farrell is special. Farrell is captain, so it is one of the big decisions for Borthwick.”
England’s 27-10 victory against Argentina in their Pool C opener came from strong defence, forcing numerous handling errors by the Pumas and dominating the breakdown. George Ford’s accurate kicking turned territorial advantage into points.
Halliday acknowledged the significance of the win given the early red card but cautioned against making hasty judgments about England’s overall performance after just one match.
He said: “England’s win against Argentina was a remarkable result, and there was a great atmosphere in the stadium that really helps. England were prescribed to play limited rugby by the early red card, and they did this very well.
“Argentina were also very poor, and seemed to freeze, and they have questions to answer, but they should still get to the quarter-final. We shouldn’t make a judgement on England after just one match.”
With the win against Argentina, England are almost certain to advance to the quarter-finals, where they will potentially face Australia or Wales.
However, Halliday believes that England’s pragmatic approach, relying on penalties and drop goals, may not suffice against stronger opponents.
He emphasised the need for England to experiment more with ball-in-hand play and strive for tries, recognizing the higher level of competition in this World Cup.
“England need to start experimenting more with the ball in hand,” Halliday continued. “They’re not going to win big games through just kicking penalties and drop goals. This tournament is not like 2007 (where England got to the final playing limited rugby) because of the quality of Ireland, South Africa, and France.
“You’re going to have to be special to win this World Cup and England know that. The remaining pool games are a great chance to use as a practice game, experiment and try to score tries.”
Tom Curry’s red card was the fourth time England have had a man sent off in their last six matches. Curry was too upright in the tackle, and made head contact with Cruz Mallia, he was shown a yellow card and the incident was sent for review to the bunker, where it was upgraded to a red card.
Defence coach Kevin Sinfield has refuted claims that England’s players have a discipline problem, but Halliday believes that there is a problem and it may be coming from the messages the coaches are sending to players.
He said: “It’s a choice for England to tackle high. It may be coming from the defence coach who wants to unwrap the ball. Tom Curry didn’t need to make a tackle like that and as a result England had 14 men for 78 minutes.
“Tackling high is something that is in your own hands, and in the knockout stages you won’t get away with going down to 14 men.”
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