Farrell and Ford go head-to-head after years running English game
The rival fly-halves in today’s Premiership final have grown up together, are at top of form but know each other’s tricks
‘I think they’ve both got better year on year and they’re both at their peak. They’re playing the best rugby they’ve ever played’
Finding new things to write about Owen Farrell and George Ford can be challenging, which, in a roundabout way, reinforces the enduring quality and consistency of two exceptional fly-halves. Farrell turned 30 last September. Ford does not do so until next March. And, yet, it seems as though they have been around for ever.
Rummage through Youtube and you will find a sizzle reel of their appearances at 10 and 12 for England Under-16s against Millfield School in 2008.
The video, set to the stirring song Proud by Heather Small, begins with Farrell clattering an opposition forward. Next, he carves a powerful angle before releasing an offload that sets up a try. Ford tidily ties everything together as the playmakers dominate proceedings.
Fourteen years on, the pair face off at Twickenham today in a fascinating Premiership final. They have graced the same venue as England colleagues on a number of occasions. This time, as Leicester Tigers and Saracens contest the domestic title, they will be steering their own sides as rivals.
For various reasons, from Covid to Saracens’ salary-cap breaches and what he has called a “brutal” period beset by two separate ankle injuries, Farrell has needed to emerge from a tough few years.
Meanwhile, in Eddie Jones’s national set-up, the rise of Marcus Smith has nudged Ford towards the periphery.
That has benefited Tigers immensely. In Ford’s last year before leaving Leicester for Sale Sharks, he has been sublime.
John Fletcher first teamed them together for England Under-18s.
He has enjoyed the “sensational rugby” on show from Farrell and Ford this season.
“It’s really rare for either of them to make a decision where you think ‘I’m not sure where that’s come from’ or ‘that’s not accurate’,” says Fletcher, now head of pathways and elite coach development for the Scottish Rugby Union.
“When you think about how much involvement a stand-off has in the game and the huge amount of information that they take in prior to the game, how much people rely on them, they’re just really effective.
“I think they’ve both got better year on year and
they’re both at their peak. I think they’re playing the best rugby they’ve played, and that’s no surprise. “Steve Black always used to say that, from a physical performance point of view, you are always going to be at your best in your late 20s and early 30s, and it makes absolute sense from a rugby experience point of view.” Farrell and Ford will be beholden to the battle between two confrontational packs in front of them, of course, but are pivotal to the pressurising templates of their respective teams. According to Opta, Ford has kicked the ball 244 times in Premiership fixtures this term. He has amassed 8,432 kicking metres at an average of 481 per 80 minutes – more than any other individual.
In a reflection of his accurate and ambitious work with ball in hand, Farrell has created nine line breaks over 667 minutes on the field. Only one player, Will Edwards of Harlequins, has done so at a better rate. Familiarity makes a major subplot of the decider more compelling. “They will probably be able to predict what one another is going to do before they do it,” Fletcher adds.
“That’ll be based on the context of the game, the situation, the body language. I don’t think either of them will be able to surprise the other.” Fletcher stresses that television cameras will not do justice to either fly-half ’s performance.
He says both men will “push boundaries” when it comes to “leadership, tactical awareness and conversations with referees”.
He believes, also, that there are underappreciated aspects to the protagonists. “Fordy will always try to find ways, defensively, from preventing himself from being out of the game – the rips, the intercepts,” Fletcher explains.
“I think he’s got good smarts around getting the ball back, and that’s where he’s innovated his game a little.
“I think the way Faz has further
developed his game since being a young person has been his off-theball support.
“I think he’s a really underrated support player. When the game frees up and he’s trying to get those second touches, I think he’s incredible at it.”
Freddie Steward, the Leicester and England full-back, did label Ford as “magical” this week and expressed his hope that this afternoon would not represent their final match together.
That sounded like a nod towards how Ford has slipped down the international pecking order.
Of the 74 Test matches that Jones has overseen as England head coach, there are only four for which both Farrell and Ford have been absent from England’s squad. All of those have come over the past year – against the United States, Canada, Tonga and South Africa at Twickenham. That is another mark of their lasting class. And, even if Smith retains his place, Jones’s reliance upon Farrell and Ford will surely extend into 2023.
On semi-final weekend, Farrell seized control of a testy encounter against Harlequins either side of half-time. Hours later, Ford defied a tricky start to steer Leicester past Northampton Saints.
The pair have continued to develop in front of our very eyes. Expect the Premiership final to indicate that there is more to come.