Ford or Farrell?

How blessed England are to have two fly-halves with so much to offer. George Ford and Owen Farrell are both still young, and with time on their side, England will see the benefits of their brilliance for a great many years to come. However with two excellent footballers fighting for a single berth, who is the key to England's hopes in the future?

Both players have followed similar trajectories through the England set up, working up from age grade to the senior team. Indeed they have played together throughout that time for England youth, as well as lining up against each other on the rugby league field as far back as when they were 12 years old. They do however have differences in what they can bring to the team.

In short, it is an element of style. Both are spot on with their kicking out of hand and at goal, an essential requisite of the fly-half throughout the history of rugby, but beyond this their different styles of play with the ball in hand set them apart.

Given that Owen Farrell is a few years older than George Ford, he inevitably had the opportunity to pull on the England 10 jersey a little sooner, and really made it his own. After losses to New Zealand and South Africa in the autumn of 2014, and some great form for Bath, George Ford seized the opportunity when selected to play 10 against Samoa. With Farrell being injured for the 2015 Six Nations, George Ford took the opportunity to make the position his own, and with Jonathan Joseph playing outside him, helped England become a real attacking force.

Having had the opportunity to see what each of them can bring to England's game, and the way the team functions around them, it is clear that England are in a great position to choose who would function best for a given situation. George Ford is a much more elusive runner with the ball in hand, and provides a real spark that keeps England on the front foot when attacking, whereas Owen Farrell will unlock defences with his physicality. Ford is certainly the playmaker of the two, but Farrell is the game manager, and while he may not share the same attacking instinct, he is perhaps less able to explore it in the way that Saracens play.

Both of these styles of play have their place in this England setup, and depending on the opposition, either can be used to match up to or exploit the opposition, but for me, the long term aims of the England Rugby team should rest on George Ford. If England are to become a attacking and dominant force in international rugby, he is the key to getting them playing in the right direction.

Given that there is a core of this England team who still have several World Cups in them, and with the Under-20 team continuing to perform well, the outlook for English rugby is rosy, and George Ford is one of the keys to fulfilling that ambition.

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Filed under: Rugby World Cup, England
Written by: Edward Kerr
Follow: @edwardrkerr · @therugbymag