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George Ford expressed his sorrow for Jim Mallinder after his sacking by Northampton and sacks there is a worrying trend towards quick-fix solutions in rugby union.
George Ford expressed his sorrow for Jim Mallinder after his sacking by Northampton and said there is a worrying trend towards quick-fix solutions in rugby union. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images
George Ford expressed his sorrow for Jim Mallinder after his sacking by Northampton and said there is a worrying trend towards quick-fix solutions in rugby union. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images

George Ford warns rugby union against football-style sacking culture

This article is more than 6 years old

The Leicester fly-half says clubs must not panic during rough patches as his side prepare for Sunday’s crucial Champions Cup rematch with Munster

The east Midlands has again felt an icy December blast from Europe. A year after the end of Richard Cockerill’s long reign as the Leicester director of rugby was precipitated by a second heavy defeat to a side in what was then the Pro12, Jim Mallinder’s 10 years in charge of Northampton ended on Tuesday after the Saints were routed by Ospreys in front of an unusually small crowd at Franklin’s Gardens.

The Leicester fly-half George Ford is acutely aware rugby is in danger of heading football’s way when it comes to quick-fix solutions to faltering form. Ford’s father, Mike, was sacked by Bath two summers ago, and has been linked with the job at Northampton. “I feel very sorry for Jim Mallinder who did a great job at Northampton,” says the 24-year-old. “It is the way the game is going and there has been a fair bit of it going on in the last few years.

“People want success and change things if it does not happen, but with clubs getting better now it is difficult for one team to dominate. I hope clubs back their directors of rugby when they need support in tough times. You do not want it going like football. Everyone goes through a rough patch: it is about sticking together when the bullets are flying and emerging stronger.”

Leicester are sixth in the Premiership, with Northampton 10th. The Saints will not qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup while the Tigers will have to, as they did a year ago after a 38-0 defeat at Thomond Park, turn around a heavy defeat to Munster at Welford Road on Sunday to retain any hope of making the knockout stage.

Last weekend was one of the most miserable for English clubs in the European Cup: seven matches, seven defeats, most of them chastening. Saracens, Northampton, Exeter and Harlequins all lost at home without securing a losing bonus point while Leicester and Wasps suffered heavy away defeats. Only Bath, four minutes away from victory in Toulon, emerged with any credit, prompting an inquest that will be relaunched should this weekend go as badly.

“I know all the English clubs lost but that had not happened for a while,” Ford says. “The Champions Cup is a tough competition and always has been: it is not about looking for excuses but, for our part, turning it around. We felt good mentally and physically going into the game at Thomond Park, but we did not deliver. We need to win on Sunday to remain in contention and will be giving it everything.”

George Ford and his Leicester team-mates leave the field after their second trouncing at Munster in a year. Photograph: Diarmuid Greene/Sportsfile via Getty Images

Ford is in his second spell at Leicester after rejoining from Bath in the summer. Having opened with defeats to his old club and Northampton, the Tigers won six successive Premiership matches but lost to Worcester, at home, and Wasps before the trip to Munster. Like other clubs this season, victories and defeats have tended to come in clusters.

“Momentum is a big thing, in a game and over a period,” Ford says. “If you get off to a good start, it is easier to stay ahead than it is to chase. If you can put a few wins together, you can go on a good run. On the flip side, if you do not start a game well and go behind it is very difficult to get it back and it is the same thing when you have a few bad results. We are not thinking about a losing run but putting it right this week.”

Leicester in their pomp, like Northampton later, were a team versed in the fundamentals: organised, powerful, controlling and difficult to beat. The more open nature of the game now has made that approach, if not redundant, hazardous because the higher ball-in-play time has led to more tries. Increasingly, teams are seeing the value of having a playmaker at 12 to complement the fly-half.

“It is not about passing the ball for passing’s sake,” Ford says. “You become too lateral and play into the hands of the defence. Today’s game demands that you are smart in the way you play and make good decisions. Having a distributor at 12 who understands the game helps, knowing what to do at any given time. I am fortunate here to have Matt Toomua outside me, a centre who would make a difference to any team.

“It still all starts up front. If you get quick ball and stop the opposition disrupting, you can play a lot more. Teams are getting better defensively, using numbers to slow down ball. That is when you have to be smart to get the momentum back. Irish teams are especially good at the breakdown and that was the biggest thing we took from last weekend: we knew what to expect, but did not deal with it well enough.”

Ford left Leicester in 2013, when he was 20, because he wanted to play regularly and his path at Welford Road was blocked by Toby Flood. He returned to the club as England’s fly-half, a mainstay under Eddie Jones who was overlooked by the Lions in the summer principally because of his defence, which tends to be underrated: he may not be one to knock back Billy Vunipola, say, but as he showed against Harlequins in September, when he felled the onrushing Jamie Roberts, he is more than a speed bump.

“Perception is a funny thing and it is hard to change it,” he says. “I am happy with the way I defend: my tackle percentage is well into the 90s. I am smaller than most guys and am not going to dominate collisions, but you find other ways to tackle people and put them down. It is about technique. I try to do my bit defensively and I like organising defence as much as attack.

“England have had a good run of games and learned a lot along the way. I still think we have a long way to go in terms of where we can take our game with aspects in every area to improve on. We do not look too much into the past or the future: when we meet up it is about pushing our game to a new level. The competition for places is such a powerful thing. The depth in the country means you know you have to keep performing at weekends and in training otherwise someone will take your spot. You cannot sit back for one minute.”

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