George Ford still does things that few, if any, fly halves in the world are capable of. On Friday night at Gloucester he produced two of the most fantastic pieces of play imaginable from No10.
Steve Borthwick loved him for his understanding of the game and his ability to create territory and turn it into points. It was Ford’s failure to execute that led to him being exiled from the England 23 with what appears a brutal finality as Fin Smith is ushered into the spotlight.
The Sale Sharks fly half reads a game better than anyone in England. Alas, he has taken the Borthwick and England playbook too literally and, not for the first time in his career, retreated into a conservatism that belies the brilliance of the younger Ford.
Ford may no longer have the nippy spurt of speed but he showed for Sale at Kingsholm that he is still capable of fantastic pieces of play David Rogers/Getty Images
But that conservatism retains a place on the rugby field. At Kingsholm on Friday, for the main, he drifted across the field and allowed others to barge into defensive walls. He moved the ball slickly through his hands, but there was no deception. In the second half he began to offer inside dummies. Gloucester didn’t take them. There was no need. He no longer possesses that nippy spurt of speed.
But his boot and his brain … wonderful. As the game entered its late stages, Ford pirouetted on his left foot and spotted the space for a 50:22. He had faded to the left to lure the defenders stationed deep, out of position. From the moment he drilled the ball with his right foot it was always going to be the perfect kick. Sale were one score behind and chasing. Sometimes passing for its own sake is just stupid. Ford is a master when the decision is made for him.
Sale didn’t maximise the position but minutes later they were in the lead when the fly half caught a clearance kick 45 metres from goal and roughly 15 from touch. What followed was the purest of drop-goal strikes. One that gave Sale a brief lead until his opposing fly half, Charlie Atkinson, stepped through the Sale defence, not for the first time, to wrest back control of a game Gloucester should have won by 20 points.
Ford moved the ball slickly through his hands even if there was no deception but it is through his brain and boot that he remains masterfulDavid Rogers/Getty Images
An aside; the Gloucester fly half is good and getting better, yet there are occasions when no other fly half in England fits the requirement of a territorial No10 more than Ford. He is out of favour with both the general public and Borthwick but he could yet be revived as England’s Ace of Impacts.
Not so far away in Belfast, in the URC match between Ulster and the Stormers from Cape Town, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was making an appalling hash of a similar long-range drop kick. The Springbok fly half was even dropping Ulster clearances. His restarts are not the greatest and while he made one magnificent try-saving cover tackle, he threw himself recklessly and randomly at a few others, resulting in increasing momentum for Ulster raids.
He’s not perfect but along with Matthieu Jalibert he is the most exciting fly half in the world. Just 24, there is no limit to his potential. Remember when Finn Russell was an average goal kicker, a genius who looked as if he wasn’t bothered with the mundane elements of rugby?
Quicker than Carter, maybe better, Feinberg-Mngomezulu showed in Belfast why he is likely to be the poster boy for the next World Cup Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Feinberg-Mngomezulu is on the fast track towards greatness. His 37-point haul, including a hat-trick of tries, against Argentina was the warning shot for the world. Ulster were excellent on Friday night but when the Stormers fly half dropped deep and accelerated on to a pass a few metres from the breakdown, there was no stopping him. Speed, a swerve, a muscular fend and — most of all — the vision to pick the gap before others see it; it makes him the man likely to depose Antoine Dupont as the world’s most famous rugby face.
Like Jalibert for Bordeaux against Bath, he tore the midfield defence to shreds, leaving room wider out. The Springbok carves opposition into pieces. He ran in two tries on Friday, the first time bisecting a couple of forwards, the next the scrum and fly half. Who cares about a fluffed drop-goal when a fly half can do so much damage? It took Fabien Galthié a while to understand that the cutting edge magnificence of the Bordeaux No10 more than makes up for the odd missed tackle. The first and most important responsibility of a fly half is to steer and galvanise his team.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu makes attack look like child’s play. Last week witnessed debate about whether women should play with smaller rugby balls. In the 48th minute of the Ulster game, the fly half drifted across the field, absolutely lateral, breaking every coach’s preconceived idea about running angles. He waved the ball around in his right palm, the size-five ball tucked in the solitary hand like a mini rugby ball, teasing tacklers as he probed for the gap. There was something fabulously Fijian to the non-coached run.
The fly half found the space but unfortunately his team-mates couldn’t finish off the meandering movement with the try it deserved. Long, lean, elegant, he is potentially the face of rugby’s future. In a year’s time the world will see him take the stage in the 2027 World Cup. Should he so choose, the Springbok fly half is set to become rugby’s most marketable commodity. His contract with the Stormers — perhaps coincidentally — runs out the same year.
This fly half, barring the unfortunate, is the next Dan Carter; quicker, maybe better. Ford doesn’t have those attributes, but that’s not to dismiss him and his acute rugby brain to England history. Handré Pollard had been past his peak a while, but it didn’t stop the Springboks utilising him when the rain fell in Paris 2023 and they needed a kicking game. Now they have a very different No10 to lead them.
The next time England fans see South Africa will be in July. Prepare yourselves for Feinberg-Mngomezulu headlines. They are set to dominate the rugby world.