Murphy hails Ford’s focus as Tigers claw out win

LEICESTER boss Geordan Murphy hailed England fly-half George Ford’s quality after he starred in a crucial Premiership victory over Sale Sharks yesterday.

Ford kicked 14 points – landing all five of his shots at goal – to edge Leicester home 19-15 following successive Premiership losses against Wasps and Worcester.

“For me, he’s an 80 per cent-plus kicker and he is world class. He has been brilliant,” Leicester interim head coach Murphy said.

“He’s been doing a huge amount on and off the field, and you would expect as much from your international number 10. He is very important for us.”

The Tigers avoided a third successive league defeat thanks to centre Kyle Eastmond’s first-half try, plus four penalties and a conversion from Ford.

Sale took an early lead when wing Marland Yarde rounded off a flowing move, while hooker Rob Webber and substitute Curtis Langdon touched down during the final quarter, but the Sharks are still without a Premiership away win since March and they remain bottom of the table.

It could, though, have been a different story if scrum-half Will Cliff had not missed all three of his kicks at goal, and a losing bonus point proved scant consolation after they outscored Leicester 3-1 on tries.

Murphy added: “I think the win was important and it was good to get the four points, but I don’t think the performance was great.

“It’s a bittersweet one because the points and win are important, but our performance was below par.”

Leicester were without centre Manu Tuilagi, who missed England’s training camp last week due to a tight hamstring, although he could be back in the mix when Tigers tackle Northampton at Twickenham next Saturday.

“He had a bit of a tight hamstring, and we knew he wasn’t going to train on the Monday and Tuesday with England, so there wasn’t really much point him getting in a car with a tight hamstring to go down and stand around on the sidelines,” Murphy added.