You should have stayed a Leicester boy, George

George Ford could be making the biggest mistake of his life by quitting Leicester this summer, according to former fly-half prodigy Ryan Davis.
Ford, 19, according to Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill, will be joining Bath, where his father Mike, is coach.
Davis, 27, currently rebuilding his injury-hit career at London Welsh, readily identifies with the pressure of expectation surrounding teenage talents like Ford.
At 18, Davis was one of England‘s budding No.10s, along with Danny Cipriani, Ryan Lamb and Shane Geraghty, identified to succeed Jonny Wilkinson.
Like Ford, he excelled for England at youth level, impressing with all the age group sides and captaining his country at the 2005 U21 World Cup in France.
But the potential was never fulfilled during a stay at Bath.
Davis, 27, told The Rugby Paper: “It’s difficult for someone like George and, in my personal opinion, I think he should have stayed at Leicester and learned there.
“Most players who play for Leicester end up playing for England, and George offers a different dimension to Leicester’s attacking game. With Toby Flood there’s good competition, too, so I’d do as much as I could to stay.
“The expectation can be difficult to deal with at that age. You’ve got to run the game, kick your goals and try to understand the weight of expectation at a club like Leicester and in that stadium.
“So, rather than moving clubs, he needs to get as many people around him as possible to take the pressure off.
“It was much the same with me at Bath and it was difficult for me there. I probably tried to take on too much responsibility, whereas at George’s age you need a network of people around you to help you make the best decisions.
“As you get older you learn that and if it goes right for George at Leicester, you’re talking about representative rugby for him there.”
Cockerill added: “It’s disappointing because you want your best young players to stay. If players choose to move on because they don’t want to stay and fight for their spot, that’s cool.
“But George has had plenty of game time and Toby Flood is a very good player. We pick on merit at Leicester.”
A series of cruciate knee injuries stunted the development of Davis, who fell down the pecking order at Bath behind Butch James and Olly Barkley before joining Exeter Chiefs in 2010.
He made a rash decision to join Wasps a year later and is now trying to pick up the pieces with Welsh.
He said: “Exeter was a bit of a saviour for me after all the injury knock-backs I’d had, and then I got the offer of a contract at Wasps.
“There was an option to stay at Exeter but I wanted to be in London. I wanted to give Wasps a go but I was probably a little naive.
“I was signed by Tony Hanks and then everything changed but now I’m grateful for this chance  with London Welsh.
“Lyn Jones has said he’ll give me an opportunity and I’m going to try to take it.
“I’ve got a contract until the end of the season.”
NEALE HARVEY