George Ford has told the latest player to challenge for his England fly-half jersey, the 18-year old Marcus Smith who trained with the national squad in Oxford last week, to be himself and never lose sight of why he was selected.

The pair faced each other on the day before the England squad met up when Leicester defeated Harlequins at The Stoop on an afternoon when the two outside-halves showcased their talent in front of the watching national head coach, Eddie Jones, although Smith departed early with a leg injury.

Marcus Smith the flower in Eddie Jones’ blossoming England vision Read more

“I had a chat with Marcus when he first came into camp [in August],” says Ford. “When you come into these environments, sometimes you can be anxious or taken aback by it. The reason he is here is because of the way he has played and I told him to be himself.

“I texted him before he made his Premiership debut and said: ‘Make sure you enjoy it and be yourself because that is why you are the player you are.’ I think you can lose sight of that sometimes. There is so much other stuff going on, you are focusing on the opposition or getting the team into the right spots as a 10 and sometimes you need to sit back and think that you need to be yourself and enjoy it. It is important that you don’t lose sight of that.”

Ford has had a number of rivals since making his England debut in 2014, not least Owen Farrell who has since been moved to inside-centre, and he welcomes another one. “It is great for England because it shows there are young English players developing and being given a shot in the Premiership who are good enough to be called up, whatever their position,” he says. “It keeps lads on their toes when they have younger players coming in, training well and impressing. You have got to keep improving as a player yourself otherwise you will stand still and ultimately lose your spot. Competition brings out the best in people.

“Marcus is a talented lad with a good head and his feet on the ground. Teams target 10s relentlessly and taking hits is part and parcel of what playing in the position is. It will happen to him not because he is 18 and I said to him after last weekend’s game that he will be taking those hits in 10 years. He is tough and gets up and carries on. He will have no worries about that.”

Ford is in his second spell at Leicester after a sojourn in Bath, linking up with his England half-back partner Ben Youngs and forming a burgeoning midfield partnership with the Australia centre Matt Toomua. “I am loving being at the club,” he says. “It is early days but we are getting our game going and becoming consistent is our next challenge.

England’s concerns grow over Mike Brown’s ankle injury Read more

“I have always rated Matty massively, having played against him and watched him. I think you don’t fully understand the full aspect of what he is until you play alongside him. What he does at 12 to help a 10 out is incredible. It is hard to see but his communication, the way he defends and the way we talk about the game in the week tactically and coming up with ways to perform against the opposition is brilliant for me as an outside-half who still wants to learn. I am loving having a guy at 12 who can distribute, kick and carry. It is the way the game is going, trying to get the ball to spaces and cause a bit of trouble for the opposition.”

Ford missed out on the Lions tour to New Zealand with Farrell preferred as a fly-half along with Jonathan Sexton and Dan Biggar. “As soon as the selection was made I got my head down and cracked on,” he says. “I was excited about going to Argentina with England as I love the environment, which constantly challenges you and makes you a better player.

“It was a great experience because, with only a few experienced guys on the tour, I was involved in the leadership stuff on and off the field. We played an experienced Argentina team in pretty hostile environments and won both Tests playing some really good rugby. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot.”