Ford: We’ll spiral into control!
3pm, BTSp3
GEORGE FORD is aiming to make Bath fullback Anthony Watson suffer again – with some help from Jonny Wilkinson’s old kicking coach.
Leicester fly-half Ford tormented England pal Watson with a series of spiral-bomb kicks the last time the teams met in February, with the Tigers running out 36-31 winners.
Ford has been working on the technique with Wilko’s former guru Dave Alred – the spiralling kicks make a fool out of wings and fullbacks as they dip away from the catcher at the last minute.
Covid means Alred is stuck in Australia, but he has regular Zoom calls with Ford, who is ready to again unleash the weapon on Watson.
Ford said: “He is a worldclass player and anything we can do to try and shut him down and stop him getting his running game going is great.
“Defenders can’t get in the air to catch these kicks – you think you are tracking it and at the last minute it moves and you are going to look silly.
“It is a kick that is harder to diffuse than the normal one. The skill takes time to practice for you to get that spiral motion but even if you don’t quite get that it is still going all over the place and more difficult to catch.
“Dave has been trying to promote it coming back into the game for a very long time. We have been working on it for a while and it has proved pretty effective.”
Ford also hailed
Tigers coach Steve
Borthwick’s impact, and said:
“We stick in games a lot more and fight for each