{"id":327791,"date":"2025-08-08T11:53:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T11:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/327791\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T11:53:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T11:53:10","slug":"george-ford-put-lions-snub-behind-him-to-achieve-ultimate-england-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/327791\/","title":{"rendered":"George Ford put Lions snub behind him to achieve ‘ultimate’ England goal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eyebrows were raised by George Ford\u2019s omission from the British and Irish Lions squad, but it allowed him to achieve something very special in an England jersey.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having missed out on the Lions\u2019 trip Down Under to face the Wallabies, the Sale Sharks fly-half was picked to play for England in their summer tour of Argentina and the USA.<\/p>\n

Ford<\/a> featured in all three Tests and the opening game against the Pumas saw him reach a century of Red Rose caps.<\/p>\n

Landmark game<\/p>\n

That monumental landmark was something he had worked his entire career for, having made his debut for Leicester Tigers as a 16-year-old way back in November 2009.<\/p>\n

Ford\u2019s professionalism and the way he responded so impressively to his Lions snub came as no surprise, but it was to be applauded all the same.<\/p>\n

Ford\u2019s dad Mike, who has served on the Ireland, Lions<\/a> and England<\/a> coaching staff, told Planet Rugby: \u201cShortly before the Lions squad was announced on May 8, I sent George a text.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said \u2018whatever happens today doesn\u2019t change the way we think of you. We think the world of you and love you very much\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cGeorge replied, saying \u2018Dad, whatever happens today, nothing changes. I\u2019m still going to go out and prepare as best I can for my next game\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the following day he went out and performed superbly for Sale at Leicester\u2026 but I don\u2019t think I would have done that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would probably have spent a couple of weeks feeling sorry for myself.<\/p>\n

\u201cYet George showed how incredibly professional he is before going on tour with England in the summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the way he is and we\u2019re so proud of him for that. I\u2019m still learning from him now with the way he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the Lions headed to Australia, Ford packed his bags in readiness for the two games against Argentina and final Test against the USA.<\/p>\n

The opening Test on July 5 saw the 32-year-old become only the eighth male England player to reach a century of Test caps.<\/p>\n

Dad Mike travelled with youngest son Jacob to the Estadio Jorge Luis Hirschi in La Plata to see it happen.<\/p>\n

Ford Snr continued: \u201cOriginally, all the family were going to go out when it looked like George could win his 100th England cap.<\/p>\n

Ian McGeechan names \u2018ultimate Test-match animal\u2019 in \u2018Greatest I Coached\u2019 Lions team consisting of 10 English, 3 Welsh, 2 Scots and 0 Irish<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

The \u2018life and death\u2019 battle that England coach won in 2015 and what a \u2018good day\u2019 is now teaching players with just one eye<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHis wife Addy (Atdhetare) and their young daughter, Alarnia, and my wife Sallyanne were all going to make the trip.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut George said \u2018it\u2019s too far, it\u2019s not good for the baby girl\u2019 so Addy and my wife went to Spain with Alarnia while Jacob and I went to Argentina.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew it was a special one but I had prepared myself for mixed emotions because England weren\u2019t favourites to win.<\/p>\n

\u201cArgentina had just beaten the Lions in Dublin and beat New Zealand and South Africa last year, so I was thinking \u2018oh my word, it could be bittersweet if George gets his 100th cap but they don\u2019t win\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

He need not have worried.<\/p>\n

After holding off the toothless Pumas for 40 minutes to lead by three points at the break, England then took charge as Ford inspired a second-half masterclass to win the first Test 35-12.<\/p>\n

Sale\u2019s Tom Roebuck scored twice and Freddie Steward of Leicester also notched a try in the space of nine minutes.<\/p>\n

Argentina hit back with two scores of their own but, marshalled superbly by Ford, England showed composure and defensive fortitude to keep their hosts in check.<\/p>\n

Ford added two penalties to stretch England\u2019s lead before Harlequins wing Cadan Murley completed the job with a well-taken try five minutes from the end.<\/p>\n

Ford Sr said: \u201cJacob and I were watching it and I said to him \u2018I can\u2019t believe how much control England have\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey absorbed the pressure in the first half and then blew Argentina away in the second half.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was such a special day for George because I know what he\u2019s like.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning his 100th cap was great but he needs to win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way England did that \u2013 and the way George led them \u2013 made it a very special day.<\/p>\n

Electric atmosphere<\/p>\n

\u201cThe atmosphere in the changing room afterwards was electric and it was a great weekend \u2013 one that won\u2019t come around again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he was 16, George wrote down his ultimate goal to win 100 England caps and he\u2019s achieved that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford helped Borthwick\u2019s men to victory in the second and third Tests against the Pumas and the USA \u2013 and should be on the England scene for some time yet.<\/p>\n

His father added: \u201cGeorge has plenty more to achieve yet for his club and country. He has 102 England caps but will always want to keep achieving.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: British and Irish Lions team-mates erupt over Josh van der Flier\u2019s brutal response to Jac Morgan<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eyebrows were raised by George Ford\u2019s omission from the British and Irish Lions squad, but it allowed him…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[748,393,126,20681,4884,225,90462,12,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-327791","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-features","11":"tag-george-ford","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-home-page","14":"tag-internationals","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114993011360371764","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}