SUMMIT HAD TO CHANGE
Ford reveals the clear-the-air meeting between players after defeat to Scots that kickstarted England’s campaign
GEORGE FORD has revealed how a clear the air summit after slumping to their Six Nations low point sparked England’s tournament revival.
The fly-half was one of the loudest voices in the no-holds barred chat after the 30-21 Calcutta Cup defeat to Scotland last month.
England had a training week in York where players put their cards on the table and resolved to play more attacking rugby after limping to wins over Italy and Wales and that Edinburgh reverse.
Ford, who won his 96th cap in this defeat on Saturday night, has been at the centre of things as Steve Borthwick’s side have run in seven tries in two games, including four in Lyon.
Borthwick’s New England showed their true colours in the 23-22 win over Ireland and were part of a thrilling contest in France with Ford pulling the strings at 10.
And the 30-year-old insists that brutal honesty session was the trigger for two of England’s best performances under Borthwick and finishing with three wins – their best return for four years. Sale’s Ford said: “You never want that, but we had to front that up after that game. We had to make a choice I suppose.
“It was off the back of that game when we had to have a few honest conversations about things and decide what team we want to be.
“We were putting bits and pieces together but we didn’t have the feeling we’ve had the past two weeks. You never want to go through those situations but when you do you’ve got to learn and come out the other end of them.
“That accelerated it. You have to be up front and honest and make sure you come out the other end a better player individually and a better team as well. The last two weeks we’ve shown that. We’ve probably made a good thing out of a bad there.
“I’m the first to admit we’ve not been good enough as players and as a team, up until the last two weeks. That needs to be at the forefront of our mind now; have this attacking mindset, going at teams, going to break the line and score tries.
Trust me, it’s far more enjoyable to play in as well.” England spent the first three rounds of the Six Nations firing blanks and then telling the world that they could be an attacking force without any evidence.
Now, fans have been persuaded that there is enough cutting edge, provided by the likes of Ford, wing Tommy Freeman, centre Ollie Lawrence and Marcus Smith to trouble the best sides.
Ford added: “I know we keep saying it, but we see it day-in, day-out at training. Probably we haven’t put it on the field well enough until the last two games.
“Our mindset since Scotland in the last couple of weeks has been to really go at teams with ball in hand. I think you’ve seen that. I need to be like that, to be the player I want to be in the team.
“We were definitely to one side of the spectrum and that’s what the whole conversation was; that we needed to shift the other way.”
Lawrence, who scored tries against Ireland and France, said: “It was a massive step forward for us as a team. Throughout this tournament we’ve progressed nicely.”