Sanderson backing Ford for England
Alex Sanderson is confident George Ford will spare him a selection headache by playing a prominent role for England in the upcoming Six Nations.
The Sale Sharks boss has cautiously mentioned the Bath game, on January 27, as a possible club debut for Ford, who has been sidelined since rupturing his Achilles in last season's Premiership final whilst playing for Leicester.
With Rob du Preez playing out of skin at fly-half, summer signing Ford's imminent return to match action potentially leaves Sanderson facing a dilemma about who will wear the number 10 jersey.
However, Sanderson, below, believes Ford won't be available to him for long with an England return on the agenda.
“With George coming back in again and the opportunity to play Rob at 10 and 13 that's something we'll have to experiment with. It's a challenge particularly with how well Sam James has played (at outside centre),” Sanderson said.
“In all honesty, I feel like George is going to go straight to the Six Nations or after a game or two as he should do. So Rob would then hold the shirt until March and then we will let them play it out.”
Ford was a bench player during the whole of last season's Six Nations and did not feature again under Eddie Jones for the remainder of the year.
However, Sanderson is backing Ford, still only 29, to add to his tally of 81 England caps in the not-too-distant future.
A measure of how highly new England head coach Steve Borthwick rates him is the fact he was one of six Sharks players at England testing this week.
“If I were Steve Borthwick what would I do in his sizeable shoes? I would go back to a game model that works and employ some of the people that enabled it,” Sanderson asserted.
“His invitation to go straight back into the squad despite him being injured and not being able to do tests would be an indication of his inclusion during the Six Nations.
“Whether or not he goes straight back into an international shirt or he plays some time for us that is something for me and Steve to thrash after the decision. I haven't asked him yet, I have just said let's play it by ear as we get there.
“He is obviously quality enough to come back in having not played in a long time but there are more things to consider as well.
“His metrics and strength testing are off the charts so he is coming back fitter and stronger, probably more robust than he was.”
