England’s Ford back at fly-half
TOKYO: England coach Eddie Jones has recalled George Ford at fly-half and shifted Owen Farrell to centre for tomorrow’s World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, reverting to his twin playmaker approach.
That had been his preferred tactic in the pool phase of the tournament, when Ford was outstanding.
But he dropped Ford to the bench for the quarter-final win over Australia, against whom Jones said he had been “spectacular” after coming on during the second half.
Henry Slade drops to the bench, with Manu Tuilagi moving to outside centre.
The pack is the same as against Australia, with the only other change being on the bench, where Mark Wilson replaces Lewis Ludlam as back row cover.
Jonny May has recovered from a hamstring strain to start on the left wing, with Anthony Watson on the right and Elliot Daly at fullback.
“When you get to this stage of the World Cup it is all about focusing on being in the moment and getting yourself physically right,” Jones said.
“The squad has approached the game well with real maturity. It has helped having players here who have been on the Lions tour and played against New Zealand. They have been involved in some of the biggest games in world rugby so this semi-final won’t faze them.”
There were 16 England players originally selected for that tour, where the series was drawn 1-1, with a draw in the final Test, 13 of whom are in the current World Cup squad.
“New Zealand are a great team... like any good team, you have to take away time and space from them and you have to find areas you can pressure them,” Jones said. “We believe we have identified a number of areas where we can do that.”
Ford’s move to the bench last week was seen as a way to stiffen the midfield to counter the physical threat of Australia centre Samu Kerevi. New Zealand’s centres, Anton Lienert-Brown and Jack Goodhue, bring a different, more technical and mobile threat, which Jones is confident Ford can handle.
Having him and Farrell back in harness, as they were for most of the World Cup warm-ups and pool games, gives more attacking options, with the likelihood that Ford will give way for Slade in the second half.
England have beaten New Zealand only once in their last 16 meetings, though the last game between them was a close one as the All Blacks came from 15-0 down to win 16-15 at Twickenham a year ago.
They last reached the final in 2007, losing to South Africa.