George Ford is key to England success – Martin Johnson
Johnson, who lifted the Webb Ellis Trophy in Sydney 12 years ago, remembers his first encounters with Ford from his time as England coach before the last World Cup.
The England legend says that Ford, despite being only just out of school, used to shine in training sessions against more senior and experienced stars.
And he was kept up to date on his progress on a regular basis by Ford’s father Mike, who was a member of Johnson’s England’s back room team before moving to Bath.
Johnson said: “George is an exceptional player. You could see it when he was a kid.
“We used to train against the U21s and he was very young for them at that point.
“You could see his understanding of the game was fantastic. Everybody was fresh but he was outstanding, picking the right options, finding holes and seeing where weaknesses where. He was very, very smart.
“You see it in him now. When England played France last season, everything he tried was the right thing to do.
“It didn’t always come off but he saw the right option so many times. And his passing game is outstanding.”
Johnson, who is cautious about comparing Ford with the young fly-half who adorned the England team he captained, Jonny Wilkinson, believes Ford is going to get better and better.
“He is a different type of player to Jonny Wilkinson. They are both outstanding fly-halves, though. Like any young player you just hope he keeps on getting better and better and I think he will.
“He is playing fly-half for England he has got pressure on him and I looking forward to seeing him have a go at the World Cup.”
Johnson feels that even though Ford will start against Fiji, Lancaster has another fantastic player waiting in the wings should anything happen to Ford.
“If George loses form they have Owen Farrell, who is also a great player and who would go into the side and do a good job.
“With Owen you know what you are going to get. He goes in there and does what he does.
“Ideally you want to have a couple of world class players in every position – that may be wishful thinking – but we certainly have two exceptional fly halves.”
NEIL FISSLER
