Devastated George Ford hobbles off after just 20 minutes of Prem final

Leicester Tigers flyhalf George Ford survived just 20 minutes of his side's Gallagher Premiership Final showdown with Saracens at Twickenham this afternoon.

It's a potentially significant blow for Ford's England aspirations, with the national tour of Australia just a week and a half away.

Indeed, Ford and Owen Farrell's head to head contest at fly-half was billed as one of the final's biggest draws, but it wasn't to be for the Sale Sharks bound playmaker.

At the heart of the contest was the fly-half battle between Ford, currently out of the international picture, and England captain Farrell, while Eddie Jones was watching from the stands as he makes final calls on squad selection for next month’s Australia tour.

Ford missed a routine shot at goal and in a terrible blow for Leicester, their general’s afternoon was over because of what appeared to be a rolled ankle incurred as his side attacked.

Farrell offered commiserations to his friend as Ford was helped off, but it then became Saracens’ turn to suffer a setback when Davies was sin-binned for a high-tackle.

Leicester made the extra man count almost immediately when Freddie Steward accelerated clear along the touchline before finding Chris Ashton and, when the forwards arrived to reinforce the move, Hanro Liebenberg drove over.

Elliot Daly reduced to the deficit to 7-6 but raw power carried Tigers over for a second try after Genge ran a penalty into the guts of Saracens’ pack before Jasper Wiese surged over to give Tigers a 12-6 lead.