Ford focusing firmly on Ireland role

When Mike Ford took on the role of defence guru with the Irish rugby union squad he freely admits it was with the intention of furthering his chances of getting a Super League coaching role. Now he is not sure if he would accept one even if it was offered.

Ford was the man whose name was at the top of the list when the IRFU asked England’s Phil Larder if he could recommend anyone to do the same job for them as he had done with England.

The 38-year-old former Great Britain scrum-half was coaching hometown club Oldham at the time and was in the middle of a training session when the call from Eddie O’Sullivan eventually came.

“It was like a whirlwind,” he said.

“I got a call on the Wednesday, flew over to meet Eddie on the Friday, accepted the job on the Saturday and handed my notice in on the Monday.

“I still had over three years on my contract at Oldham but if I hadn’t taken the chance I would have regretted it.

“I had just been turned down for two Super League jobs because I didn’t have enough experience. My initial thought was ‘no-one will be able to say I have no experience when I have coached Keith Wood and Brian O’Driscoll’.

“But I have enjoyed it so much, there would be a real question in my mind whether I would take a Super League job now even if I was offered it.”

Given his only experience of union had been coaching obscure Cheshire side Duckinfield, the transition to the international scene could have been daunting.

But what he found was nothing short of a shambles.

“There was nothing in place,” he said. “There were no communication calls and no defensive systems.

“They were conceding tries and no-one knew whose fault it was. Now everybody knows their roles and responsibilities.

“In some ways it is easier to defend in union than league because in league you are 10 metres back.

“The big difference is that union is multi-phase and multi-functional. Props have to learn to defend like centres and vice-versa.

“We are still a long way behind England and France because they started a few years earlier but there has been a definite improvement and I would like to think I have contributed to that.”

Ford is hoping his current contract, which runs to the end of the World Cup, will be extended, if only because he has derived so much pleasure from the work he has been doing.

Contrary to public opinion, he has not found dealing with Ireland’s big names a problem. Quite the reverse in fact.

“People say when you coach world-class stars you have to manage their egos,” he said.

“With this group, it is completely the other way round, players like Keith Wood and Brian O’Driscoll are so easy to coach.

“In one of the earliest chats I had with Phil Larder after taking the job, he told me Brian was one of Ireland’s worst defenders. Now I would say he is one of the best.

“He picks things up so easily. He is constantly asking questions because he wants to continue being the world’s best centre.

“As a team they constantly challenge you. If they don’t agree with something you say, they won’t just walk away. They will ask.”

As a Lancastrian with the 13-man rugby code in his veins, Ford could never admit to union being more of a spectacle than the game he grew up with.

However, the former Wigan, Castleford and Warrington player can see the rise in union’s profile having a negative effect on those who love league.

“There are too many coaches, players and spectators who have blinkers towards the other code, more so with league than union,” he said.

“The bigger union gets the more the league people are in denial. It is about time they took the blinkers off because the sports can learn from each other.

“If I went back to league I would take so much with me. Whether that day will come or not I’m not sure, I am quite happy where I am at the moment.”