Previously unseen footage shows Ford was preparing for masterclass all along
Owen Farrell who? The England captain was barely missed on Saturday as England opened their World Cup campaign with an unexpected dispatching of Argentina.
Yes, there were no tries, but England defended well and forced Argentina into plenty of errors. Oh, and George Ford kicked 27 points, with nine of those points coming by way of drop goal.
It was a truly epic display from the fly-half to steer an England team who played 78 minutes with 14 players to victory after Tom Curry’s red card.
Though England might not want to admit it, but their style is pretty much built for drop goals at the moment. They seem to have given up completely trying to score tries, but drop goals now seem like a viable source of points, and therefore wins, and Ford knows it.
Footage has emerged of the Sale Sharks No10 practicing at the Stade Velodrome before the match started, and drop goals seemed to be high on the agenda. He was actually asked that in the changing room after the match by Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales, but he obviously did not want to give away all his secrets. But England rugby have given them away for him, as a video was shared of him slotting drop goals in an empty stadium. There is another video of him slotted drop goals in a full stadium as well.
Take a look at Ford before the match:
@KensingtonRoyal @George_Fordy #ENGvARG | #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/Ba9x1XRJKs
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) September 10, 2023
England take on Japan on Sunday in Nice, and do not be surprise if you see another few drop goals by Ford again.
