‘Sharp’ Ford earns ringing endorsement

Worcester 3-48

It is not Steve Borthwick’s style to demand that his players are picked by England, not least because he knows Eddie Jones better than most. Still, the Leicester Tigers head coach was as expressive as he gets in his endorsement of George Ford following this seven-try rout.

“Just about everything good today was centred around him pulling the strings,” Borthwick said of Ford. “It’s not my selection call to make. What I see is someone playing good rugby and looking sharp.”

Omitted from a 45-man England training group last month, Ford conducted a comprehensive Tigers victory that extended their lead in the table to seven points. Five straight wins constitutes their best start to a Premiership campaign.

Among many classy moments were a deft pass to send over Matias Moroni and a delicate cross-kick that allowed Nemani Nadolo to set up Richard Wigglesworth for Leicester’s bonus-point try.

Full-back Freddie Steward impressed and would appear to be in a strong position to build on his promising starts against the United States and Canada three months ago. Neither Ben Youngs nor George Martin appeared in Borthwick’s match-day squad, but Ellis Genge, who started at loosehead prop, and Joe Heyes, a replacement on the other side of the front row, scrummaged powerfully and contributed to a dominant forward display.

Genge seems certain to feature for England next month and Heyes, blooded against the US and Canada like Steward, must be in contention to back up Kyle Sinckler.

On a day to forget for Worcester, which their captain Scott Baldwin labelled “embarrassing”, prospective England centre Ollie Lawrence found space hard to come by.