Ford is Blur to Farrell's Oasis – but 100th cap gives him centre stage he deserves

Telegraph

8 hours ago

It is almost the cruellest of ironies that in the grand career of George Ford, the pomp and circumstance surrounding his 100th cap for England should be overshadowed by the Lions call-up of his old mate, occasional midfield partner, and intermittent rival, Owen Farrell.
This is a duo who have been lumped together as best of friends and best of enemies for over a decade. Farrell has described how they played against each other as 12-year-olds, then together at school, then Ford forced the England age-group selectors to push his rival to 12 to accommodate another playmaker at fly-half. With England Under-20s, it was Ford, and not Farrell, who won World Rugby's junior player of the year award.
The pair have competed against each other at club level and also competed for the England fly-half berth, while also often reprising the 10-12 axis which gained such plaudits in their youth. But it was Farrell who, in terms of gongs and plaudits at senior level, was always just a notch above Ford.
It is Farrell who is the four-time Lions tourist – with one victorious tour – who made his England debut first (2012 instead of 2014), who reached 100 caps first, who captained his country more often, and who has won more domestic trophies. No one can take Ford's achievements away from him – and he made his record-breaking Premiership debut aged 16 – but it is incontrovertible, too, that Farrell, in that respect, is winning. The latter is Oasis; the former is Blur.
But there are many people who believe – even, know – that Blur were always better than Oasis. Farrell is bigger and brasher but as a fly-half no better; as an all-round player and motivator the Saracen prevails but as a playmaker and passer Ford is and has always been Farrell's equal – if not superior.
On Saturday, in La Plata in the first Test against Argentina, Ford will win his 100th cap in international rugby; all have come for England, not one has come for the Lions.
Farrell's call-up on Thursday was the nail in Ford's Lions coffin. Andy Farrell now has four fly-halves in his squad – plus another makeshift one in Blair Kinghorn if it reaches dire straits – and it would take an injury crisis of gargantuan proportions to result in another No 10 booking a flight to Australia.
Earlier this year, my colleague Charlie Morgan compiled a 23-player squad of the most hard-done-by players in the history of Home Nations rugby: those to never have toured with the Lions despite having had an overwhelming claim for doing so.
Brian O'Driscoll said regarding Ford's Lions snub that 'there's no sentiment in sport but if ever a player deserved to play at the highest level…' O'Driscoll, following his controversial dropping in 2013, knows all about the lack of sentiment in sport but the Ireland great is correct. Ford, dubbed a tactical genius by England head coach Steve Borthwick, currently stands at No 1 in Charlie Morgan's list. The 32-year-old, unless he receives the most unlikely of call-ups as a 36-year-old for the 2029 tour to New Zealand, will surely retire as the greatest player to have never pulled on the famous red jersey.
The lazy assumption with Ford was always that he was either a phenomenal club player who could not cut it at Test level or, not entirely tangentially, was a a fly-half who was happy performing the frills but who often struggled with the fight.
That was always apocryphal, but then came September 9, 2023 and the narrative was put totally to bed. England, against the opposition who Ford will face this Saturday for his 100th cap, Argentina, put Los Pumas to bed in their World Cup pool-stage opener after a third-minute red card to flanker Tom Curry. With Farrell suspended, Ford kicked 27 points in the handsome victory, kicking three majestic drop-goals in the process, and the England fans chanted his name long into the sweltering (beer-less) Marseillaise night.
Now, the Sale Shark is gearing up to lead England out into 'one of the most hostile atmospheres' in rugby, he says. With Farrell arriving on Australian soil across the Pacific Ocean, Ford co-captains England alongside Jamie George in a two-Test series against Argentina, on the occasion of his 100th cap.
'Doing it for the first time was almost a surreal moment,' Ford said from England's hotel on Thursday. 'You grow up dreaming of playing for England and then to be within touching distance of it and actually doing it is incredibly special.
'I remember doing it for 60 seconds. My family were in the crowd and there were 80,000 people at Twickenham. But even that was a surreal moment.
'I suppose now, when I've been fortunate enough to play a few times for England, I haven't lost the desire or how honoured or privileged I am to do it. But what experience tells you is that, even though it's a milestone, it's just the next England game in terms of trying to perform well. Now I'm 32 and doing it hopefully for the 100th time, it's another day at the office.
'It's an unbelievably proud moment for me, but more importantly my family. But the most important thing at the weekend is the team and having a really good performance and getting a good result.
'Even though there is a milestone there, the whole bigger picture doesn't change. It's England-Argentina and we want to win and make sure we perform really well. In terms of my individual preparation for the game, I've not felt much different, it's just trying to do the right thing for the team, even though there is a bit more noise about it.'
A bit more noise there might be, but Ford, even as a Test centurion, continues to put the collective above the self. Ever the team player, ever the self-deprecator; perhaps, with all the noise around Farrell in Australia, Ford will play the understudy with aplomb once more.