Give George Ford the chance to shine for England, says Dewi Morris

I watched Bath v Saracens last Friday and was very impressed with George Ford and how well he controlled that game for Bath. I would love to see him play a big role in the autumn internationals and I hope Stuart Lancaster starts him for at least two of the four Tests.

A lot of people go on about statistics and say that Ford’s kicking stats are not good enough, however going into that game against Saracens he was sitting pretty with a 92.86% success rate – he had only missed two out of 28. Okay he did only managed four from nine against Sarries but his success rate is still 81.08%. I think he has worked really hard on his kicking as well as his tackling, and for me he is the man who should be taking England into a new era.

His game management is far superior to anyone else at the moment and the biggest weapon he has to offer England is his pace and his vision. The Kyle Eastmond try that Bath scored was outstanding and it was made by Ford who was under pressure all night from the Sarries forwards, but he certainly handled them well.

Ford does not need ten minutes here and ten minutes there in November for England; he needs to be trusted to start and given the responsibility run a game. I would love Lancaster to give him a start against Samoa and either South Africa, New Zealand or Australia. That will really test him.

Farrell and Ford are chalk and cheese as far as playing styles are concerned.

There is no doubt that he causes teams problems and he will get his backline moving. If Lancaster does go for Ford then it will be interesting to see who he picks in the centres – does he go for two big boshers like Luther Burrell and Manu Tuilagi or does he have a playmaker like Eastmond there?

Even if Lancaster does want to see what a Kyle Eastmond can do at centre then he really needs to have a player like Ford at 10 to get the best out of him.

This is not a criticism of Owen Farrell in the slightest. Farrell has plenty to offer England, but we know what he can do, and I think Farrell and Ford are chalk and cheese as far as playing styles are concerned. Heading into the World Cup it is vital that England explore different possibilities and for me George Ford is the man to lead them into a new and exciting era.

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