England explain first-ever selection of Ford/Tuilagi as their 10/12

Steve Borthwick has paid tribute to the talents of George Ford ahead of his first England start in two and a half years. Not since a March 2021 behind-closed-doors Guinness Six Nations hammering away to Ireland has the out-half been chosen as his country’s No10, but that will change this Saturday in Dublin when Ford wears the shirt in a Summer Nations Series clash with the Irish.

England boss Borthwick revealed his original plan was to start Owen Farrell against Ireland. He didn’t confirm in what position, but with Farrell having had his training week disrupted by his independent disciplinary hearing, the head coach has turned to Ford to play at 10 alongside Ben Youngs at scrum-half and with Manu Tuilagi running the No12 channel.

It’s the first-ever time that England have gone with a 10/12 combination of Ford with Tuilagi and it’s a massive opportunity for the out-half as it was felt his Test career was possibly over with Eddie Jones placing his trust in a Marcus Smith/Farrell 10/12 combination.

He didn’t feature in this year’s Six Nations despite Borthwick, his old coach from Leicester, taking charge, but he played off the bench in recent weeks against Wales and those two Summer Nations cameos have now been followed by his selection to start against the Johnny Sexton-less Irish.

Asked what he wants to see from Ford at the Aviva Stadium, Borthwick said: “As ever with my players I want them to bring their incredible strengths onto the pitch.

“He [Ford] has got an incredible tactical brain and he thinks the game, he thinks really clearly through the game and has a fantastic skill set both with his distribution skills and his kicking – and I’m looking forward to seeing that partnership with Ben at nine and then the link with Manu at 12.

“It’s great to see Manu back out. I said to you he had a slight tweak, so it delayed when he played his first game. I’m looking to seeing Manu there. These are players, Ben, George and Manu, who have played a lot of rugby together.

“It was a plan that George was always going to start one of the (four Summer Nations) games at 10,” continued Borthwick. “Now it is brilliant to see Manu back on the pitch.

“What I see with Manu right now is someone who had slight disruption to his training just for a couple of weeks which delayed him getting onto the pitch in a match, but what I see is someone who is looking sharp, looking powerful, and he is raring to go.

“I have seen him in training this week and I feel he has taken another step forward in our training and that combination of players, the nine, 10, 12 that is playing, has spent a lot of time together through a number of years, not just in the international arena but club rugby as well.”