‘I’m feeling good now, it’s great to have a break’
FORD REVEALS EXTENT OF INJURY WHICH CUT SHORT SEASON WITH TIGERS AND NGLAND
GEORGE Ford has revealed the extent of his injury that cut short his 2020/21 season with Leicester Tigers and saw him miss out on England’s summer internationals.
The 28-year-old fly-half did not feature in his club’s final three games last term and was rested by Eddie Jones for the Tests against Canada and USA.
After a rare summer off, the former Bath back admitted he was grateful for a rugby-free period and has started strongly this term for Tigers who top the early Gallagher Premiership table with three consecutive wins.
“I had a bit of an Achilles issue,” said Ford. “I missed a little bit of the Autumn Nations Cup.
“It’s not one specific event that did it, it’s just been probably a bit of load and volume over playing rugby and not having much rest since about probably 2014, 2015.
“It was something that a lot, probably a majority of players, have got to deal with at some point during their careers now.
“I’m feeling good now, it’s great to have a break.”
Ford added he’s had “procedures” but not operations, including a PRP (platelet-rich plasma) which increased the healing process.
“You get a bit of inflammation around where the tendon attaches to the bone, typically a little bit sore in the morning,” said the 77-times capped England international.
“It takes a little bit longer to warm up. You might be a little bit more aware of it in and after training but obviously when you want to get better in training and you’re being modified or you’re being looked after, you’d rather be out there trying to get better.
“It’s good to have the break, have a bit of time off feet.”
England head coach Eddie Jones revealed to the Mercury in June that Ford had “battled his way through” last season, albeit with a “nagging calf injury” – not an Achilles issue.
Ford was rotated from the Tigers squad and did not feature after their European Challenge Cup final defeat to Montpellier.
Reflecting on last season, Ford said: “I’d be lying to say it wasn’t inhibiting me.
“The biggest thing was I could get to game day and I could play, it’d be sore in the game but it’d be manageable. But it was what I did in the week, that was the biggest thing.
“If you want to go and play your best and keep on improving then obviously you need to try and train as well as you can and keep pushing it in training.
“That’s probably where I wasn’t at to be quite honest with you.
“I had to do what I could do in training, like manage it a bit more.
“It’s just that feeling of not being able to go out there and attack it and then obviously try and push it out there on the weekend.”
Meanwhile, head coach Steve Borthwick has remained tightlipped on former captain Tom Youngs’ continued absence from the Tigers squad.
The 34-year-old hooker has not featured since the pre-season defeat to the Scarlets, when he was a tryscorer, and has sat out of the first three round of the Gallagher Premiership campaign.
With Julian Montoya away on international duty and Charlie Clare out injured, Nic Dolly has grabbed his chance to wear the number two shirt with both hands to start the wins over Exeter Chiefs, Gloucester and Saracens, scoring three tries in the process.
Tom Cowan-Dickie was drafted in on loan from Cornish Pirates, and has appeared in two of those Leicester victories.
With a trip to London Irish on the horizon this weekend, Borthwick was asked whether the former England international and British and Irish Lion was out because of an injury-related issue.
He simply said: “Tom Youngs is currently unavailable.”
Montoya’s commitments with Argentina, along with Tigers teammate Matias Moroni, are now over and they are heading back to Leicestershire along with Springboks stars Jasper Wiese and Marco van Staden.
“Each one of them has to be medically assessed,” said Borthwick.
“These players have been in a bubble for a long period of time.
“They’ve played different numbers of minutes, so we’ll take each one on a case-by-case basis.”
Argentina failed to win in their six Rugby Championship games but are back in action on Saturday, November 6 against France in Paris.
They then tackle Italy seven days later and round off their calendar year on Sunday, November 21 with a trip to Dublin to face Ireland.
Borthwick added that versatile back Kini Murimurivalu is “good” despite not featuring in a matchday squad yet this season.
He also said this about Clare and South African forward Cyle Brink, who hasn’t featured since the European Challenge Cup final.
“They’re working hard, improving each day, I’m very positive about their developments,” said Borthwick.
“The medical and S&C teams are working exceptionally hard and the players are applying themselves professionally and diligently and are hungry to get back on the field.”