George Ford: Ireland are so much more than ‘Stop Sexton’

When Ireland won their first Triple Crown in 19 years back in 2004, a young English boy joined in the celebrations at their training base.

A regular around the squad since his father Mike had been appointed defence coach in 2002, young George Ford would spend his days acting as ballboy to Ronan O’Gara and David Humphreys, and being taken for ice-cream by Peter Stringer.

Ford has grown up quite a bit since then, and will start for England in the No.10 jersey at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday.

But the link with Ireland remains strong. Stringer even presented young Ford with an Ireland top after a game at Twickenham, meaning he wore the green shirt before the white of England.

That is just one of many things Ford teases Stringer about, the two now acting as very successful half-back partners at Bath. Now Ford wants the last laugh this weekend, returning to Dublin looking to end Ireland’s Grand Slam ambitions.

He has enjoyed success against Ireland before, playing a key role as England won 46-15 in Athlone to seal an Under-20s Grand Slam in 2011.

The following day he went to the Aviva Stadium as Ireland hammered England 24-8 to deny the visitors a Grand Slam at senior level to follow the achievement of the juniors.

As such he understands the atmosphere England will walk into on Sunday as the two unbeaten teams in the Six Nations face off in a game that will go a long way to deciding the destination of the title.

While there are no divided loyalties anymore, Ford admits Ireland will always have a special place in his affections after spending so much of his formative rugby years in the country.

“We would go over for a couple of weeks and spend time in the Ireland camp – me, my Dad and my brother,” said Ford, who is now 21.

“It was a brilliant experience growing up, seeing players train and then going to the massive games at the weekend. I always wanted the best for my dad so I wanted Ireland to win — although it was a bit different when they were playing England.

“All the Irish guys were brilliant with us. Strings, David Humphreys and Ronan O’Gara were all good with me and my brother, we just used to kick the balls back for them. I grew up watching a lot of O’Gara, the way he managed the game. His kicking game especially was awesome.

“One year when Ireland played England at Twickenham my dad brought me into the Ireland dressing room after the game. Strings was playing and he gave me his No. 9 short.

“I was young but it fitted me anyway because he was that small. I still have that shirt now.

He’s a brilliant guy. He used to take me and my brothers out for ice-cream when we were in Dublin. He says it’s the weirdest thing being in the same half-back pairing as me now.”

Perhaps Ireland should ask Stringer for some tips, because despite his youth Ford looks very much the real deal in the No.10 shirt. Alongside Bath team-mates Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson, his development has been the biggest boon for Stuart Lancaster over the past 12 months.

Now they hope to emulate the Under-20s achievements of 2011, when Ford, Joseph, Joe Launchbury and Mako Vunipola were in the side that smashed Ireland to secure their own Grand Slam.

“We had a good team then and we managed to beat them,” smiles Ford. “But they are always massively physical games against the Irish, especially the breakdown.”

The key this weekend could be in the battle between Ford and Jonathan Sexton. The Irishman was targeted by France last weekend without success, highlighting the idea that if you stop Sexton you stop Ireland. Ford doesn’t believe it’s quite that simple.

“I think he’s a brilliant player,” explained Ford. “You saw against France that after being out for 12 weeks, to come back and put in a performance like that – he drove Ireland to the win. He’s just massively influential in that team, everything goes through him. He’s got a brilliant rugby brain.

“As half-backs he and Conor Murray drive that Irish team and we are going to have to be very good at game management going away to Dublin.

“But Ireland’s physicality game is unbelievable with the pack they’ve got.

“Rory Best and Sean O’Brien are brilliant over the ball, and at disrupting other team’s ball. Then you’ve got Simon Zebo, Tommy Bowe and Rob Kearney, who are massively dangerous as well.”

Ireland, for their part, will have to find a way to stop England. The pack is strong, but it is the pace and invention in the back division that has stood out against Wales and Italy. In Joseph and Watson, England have found a couple of gems. It is up to Ford to let them loose: “It’s not going to be a game where there will be 10 tries scored, but we’ve definitely got some attacking weapons we’ve got to keep using.

“We need to give those boys the space to keep doing what they can do. You’ve seen in the last couple of weeks how dangerous they are and how they can turn games.

“We’ve got to try and do the right things at the right times. Sometimes it will be right to defend or kick, but sometimes it will be to have a go and try to put those boys into space.”

If he manages it then Ireland may regret allowing Ford in to all those training sessions.