Ford: England must be whiter than white over offside

George Ford says England aim to be "whiter than white" when observing the offside line in the hope of escaping the type of penalty that could ruin their World Cup.

While the officiating of dangerous tackles has dominated headlines at Japan 2019, there have also been contentiousoffsidedecisions made with Argentina, IrelandandAustraliavoicingdismay over instances in which they claim it has not been policed correctly.

AreportonTuesdaystates that World Rugby is looking to introduce Hawk-Eye technologytoensureitisenforced, but the PA news agency understands there are no plans tohaveitinstalledinthebelief it is unworkable.

Ford insists England's approach is unambiguous, knowing the impact a penalty can have.

"It'sprettyclearasaplayer. We see it as being pretty clear anyway. We want to make it clear that we are onside and that's for the referees to interpret,"theLeicesterplaymaker said.

"Our aim is to be whiter than white in terms of that because the thing we've seen isthatonepenaltycanchange the momentum of the game massively.

"A lot of them are coming from offside and it's something we want to be ultra disciplined in.

"You want the offside line to be refereed well. It's a rule, it's crystal clear and you want it to be refereed well."

When asked about HawkEye, Ford said: "I'm not too sure how it would work or what effect it would have.

"Rather than the offside line,thekeyforafly-halfisthe speedofballattheruck.That's the key to attacking the line."