INVISIBLE MAN SEES OFF SALE
Faultless Ford stops the rot for Tigers
GEORGE FORD was by no means the ‘invisible man’ yesterday as he kicked leicester to a victory which stopped the rot.
eddie Jones gave the england fly-half that label 11 days ago, believing everyone ignores his preferred playmaker but lauds ‘superman’ Danny Cipriani. but Ford threw off that cloak here to guide the Tigers to a vital win.
Having conceded an average of 39 points per match during the four league games before this one, the Tigers needed to rediscover their bite and Ford nailed all of his five attempts at goal, which led his boss Geordan Murphy to quash talk of the No 10 being unreliable from the tee. ‘It is a common myth,’ he said. ‘When you miss a few kicks people get on your case and it is a tough one, but for me he is world class.
‘He has been doing a huge amount on and off the field. you’d expect as much from your international 10. He is very important for us.’
More than 7,000 fans stayed away from Welford road yesterday and at half- time many inside probably wished they had made the same decision. In stark contrast to last weekend’s 81-point bonanza when Worcester won here, this was a dull and dreary affair.
In the first half the official statistics said there were 19 ‘possession errors’ — eight for leicester and 11 for Sale. leicester led, thanks largely to the one piece of well- executed skill in the first 40 minutes. Gareth Owen, in at outside centre for the injured Manu Tuilagi, stepped off his right foot in the Sale 22 to fool luke James, break the line and force the opening. He then popped on to kyle eastmond for the score.
Ford’s conversion meant the Tigers had wiped out the Sharks’ lead. Marland yarde had a try on the right after six minutes but Will Cliff missed the kick. Ford added two penalties and Cliff missed one before the interval.
It did not feel like it could get much worse, but unfortunately it did in the second half. There was no lack of effort or energy but there was a distinct lack of sustained quality.
The fact that Sale lost because they could not kick goals for toffee summed it up. Ford added two more penalties after the break, the last from his own half late on, but Sale scrum-half Cliff missed all of his shots, sacrificing seven points. He is not the usual kicker but american fly-half aJ MacGinty picked up a knock on Saturday so did not play.
Sale thought they had found their way back into it just after the hour when rob Webber scored from a driving maul, but they never had enough to win it.
They did, however, nick a losing bonus point right at the end, with replacement hooker Curtis langdon at the bottom of a pile of bodies in the right-hand corner. That was the 25th try leicester had conceded this season. but byron McGuigan missed the conversion, making it nine points Sale failed to take.
‘I’d have been cross if we hadn’t got a bonus point,’ said their director of rugby Steve Diamond. ‘We have not played well yet.’