George Ford (rugby union)
Encyclopedia
George Ford is a rugby union
footballer who plays for Leicester Tigers
. He plays at fly-half. His brother Joe
plays for Leeds Carnegie. Born in Oldham
, Lancashire he is the son of England defence coach Mike Ford
. With a background in rugby league
, Ford was involved in the academies at both Wigan Warriors
and Bradford Bulls
as well as rugby union
side Leeds Carnegie before eventually joining the Tigers at the age of 15.
In December 2009, he was nominated for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.
In October 2011, he became the first Englishman to win the title of IRB Junior Player of the Year, and also became the youngest-ever winner of the award.
On 27th November 2010 he made his Premiership debut, coming off the bench in a 44-19 victory over Newcastle Falcons. In September 2011, he made his first Premiership start in a 30-28 defeat to Exeter Chiefs.
game against Wales, scoring six points in England's 26-20 victory. He went on to start every game in the tournament, winning Man of the Match awards in the victories over France, Scotland and Ireland as England won the Grand Slam.
Despite being the youngest player competing at the 2011 U20 Junior World Cup, he remained first-choice fly-half as England finished in second place following victories over Ireland, Scotland, South Africa and France. The 33-22 loss to New Zealand in the final was the first time that Ford had tasted defeat with an England team since March 2008, when he was playing for the U16s. Such was the standard of his performances, however, that he won the IRB Junior Player of the Year award, beating New Zealanders Sam Cane and Luke Whitelock who were also shortlisted.
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
footballer who plays for Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010...
. He plays at fly-half. His brother Joe
Joe Ford (rugby union)
Joe Ford is a rugby union footballer who plays for Northampton Saints. He plays at fullback or fly-half. His brother George plays for Leicester Tigers...
plays for Leeds Carnegie. Born in Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
, Lancashire he is the son of England defence coach Mike Ford
Mike Ford (rugby)
Mike A. Ford is an English former rugby league player and current rugby union coach. He is the England national rugby union team's defence coach....
. With a background in rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
, Ford was involved in the academies at both Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....
and Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....
as well as rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
side Leeds Carnegie before eventually joining the Tigers at the age of 15.
In December 2009, he was nominated for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.
In October 2011, he became the first Englishman to win the title of IRB Junior Player of the Year, and also became the youngest-ever winner of the award.
Leicester career
On 8 November 2009 he became the youngest Rugby Union player to make his professional debut in England at just 16 years and 237 days old, when Leicester played Leeds in the LV= Cup. His debut was doubly notable as his brother Joe was also starting at fly-half for Leeds Carnegie that day.On 27th November 2010 he made his Premiership debut, coming off the bench in a 44-19 victory over Newcastle Falcons. In September 2011, he made his first Premiership start in a 30-28 defeat to Exeter Chiefs.
England U-18
Ford was a regular in the successful England U18 side from 2008 to 2010. He was first selected for the 2008 end-of-season tour to Argentina at the age of just 15, and was first choice fly-half for the 2009 & 2010 Six Nations and for the 2009 tour to South Africa. He missed the 2010 tour to South Africa due to club commitments and in his absence the team's 3-year, 25-game winning run came to an end with a 23-17 defeat to the hosts.England U-20
At the start of the 2010-11 season, still aged just 17, Ford was called into the England U20 squad for the 2011 campaign. He made his debut at fly-half in the opening U20 Six NationsSix Nations Under 20s Championship
The Under 20s Version of the Six Nations was set up by the International Rugby Board with the first tournament taking place in 2008.- 2008 Tournament :England won the first tournament along with the Grand Slam & Triple Crown- Results :Round One ...
game against Wales, scoring six points in England's 26-20 victory. He went on to start every game in the tournament, winning Man of the Match awards in the victories over France, Scotland and Ireland as England won the Grand Slam.
Despite being the youngest player competing at the 2011 U20 Junior World Cup, he remained first-choice fly-half as England finished in second place following victories over Ireland, Scotland, South Africa and France. The 33-22 loss to New Zealand in the final was the first time that Ford had tasted defeat with an England team since March 2008, when he was playing for the U16s. Such was the standard of his performances, however, that he won the IRB Junior Player of the Year award, beating New Zealanders Sam Cane and Luke Whitelock who were also shortlisted.
External links
- RFU profile
- Leicester Tigers debut Thisisleicestershire.co.uk