George Ford's drop in form down to Bath tactics, believes Eddie Jones, as fly-half steps forward to take responsibility

The fly-half lost his place in the Bath line-up, but as he prepares for his return to Leicester Tigers, Ford knows the time is right to become one of England's wise old heads

George Ford will be one of England's most experienced players in Argentina despite being 24 years old (Getty)

George Ford will not have too much of a change on his hands this summer when he returns to Leicester Tigers four years after leaving Welford Road for Bath, with his new-yet-familiar pastures also suited to his playing style after being forced to play against his natural game over the last few months.

That’s the view of the England head coach, Eddie Jones, who feels the tactics employed by Todd Blackadder at Bath have been to the detriment of the fly-halves form. Ford lost his place in the Bath line-up as Blackadder chose Rhys Preistland as his starting No 10 for the final two rounds of the Premiership season, but Jones never questioned his place in his England squad for next month’s tour of Argentina.

“Sometimes players in their clubs are asked to play a different way and it doesn’t suit them,” Jones explained. “As long as I see effort from them – and I saw plenty of effort from George. It wasn’t lack of effort, but how he’s been asked to play for Bath doesn’t really suit how he plays and therefore it restricted his development.”

But the 24-year-old was not as damning of his final days at Bath, despite his patchy form a possible reason why he is not booked a space on Monday’s flight out of Heathrow that will take the British and Irish Lions squad to New Zealand. Ford was well in with a shout of making Warren Gatland’s 41-man squad, only to see Jonathan Sexton, Dan Biggar and England teammate Owen Farrell included at his expense.

Instead, Ford has a summer that will consist of three matches with England – one against the Barbarians this weekend and two against the Pumas – before moving back to Leicester, his home of four years after joining the club in 2009.

“I had a great four years at Bath,” Ford explains. “I really enjoyed my time there and I have some great memories that I will take with me. I suppose that chapter of my career is over now. I’m looking forward to rejoining Leicester and hopefully be part of a team that can really challenge and win trophies again because I know that’s what the club want to do and as a player that’s what you want. You want to be a part of a successful team.

“It’s weird really. The season ended so quickly I don’t suppose it will be after the summer tour to Argentina that I properly get my head around moving to Leicester.”

Jones believes Bath's tactics did not suit Ford's talents (Getty)

It’s a smart approach to take, especially given that Ford will not have many of his back-to-back Six Nations-winning colleagues alongside him. In total, just nine players who feature in Jones’s 31-man squad to face Argentina hold more than 10 caps, while the Lions call-up of James Haskell – in place of the desperately unlucky Billy Vunipola – robs the squad of a valuable source of experience and leadership.

That is why Jones has been so keen to demand an increase in leadership among his first-team squad since taking the job 18 months ago, with Ford joining Mike Brown and Danny Care as the contingent of vice-captains that will assist Dylan Hartley, one of whom will be selected to lead England against the Barbarians this Sunday due to the skipper’s club commitments in trying to see Northampton Saints through the European Champions Cup play-off final.

Haskell was handed an injury call-up for the Lions (Getty)

With no Owen Farrell outside him, Ford knows he has to take on more responsibility on the pitch, but he’s also keen to take a lead off it and help the 20 uncapped players that are in camp this week learn as much as they can while they’re with the national team.

It’s a great opportunity for us to go out there and potentially play against the Barbarians like we want to play against Argentina

George Ford

“I’m looking to try develop that all the time really. As a 10, you’re more an on-field leader but I suppose especially last week and this week with Dylan not being here for example, there’s some more off-field stuff that I’ve tried to develop and take upon myself a little bit more, just to make sure that our stuff around camp on and off the field is where it’s expected to be,” he explained.

“Obviously we’ve got Chris Robshaw here who’s brilliant at that, Mike Brown and Danny Care as well so we’ve got four or five people that are trying to take a bit of a lead on that and make sure everything is in order.”

Ford's drop in form may be the reason behind his British and Irish Lions snub (Getty)

While Argentina await, first-up comes the annual clash against the Barbarians, a match that was largely used by Jones’s predecessor, Stuart Lancaster, as a chance to blood in younger players in a game that is known for its expansive running rugby and less so for its seriousness. Despite naming a youthful squad for the match, Jones is expected to take matters a little more seriously in his England approach the game, using it as a mini-Test to prepare for Argentina, which means the likes of Ford, Robshaw, Care and Brown are all likely to feature.

“Every time you want to play for England, you want to have a tester game before you go out to Argentina and play two incredibly tough games,” Ford notes. “For me personally, I probably wouldn’t play then for three or four weeks on the bounce, so I want to go out and play another game and get match fit and stay match fit.

“It’s a great opportunity for us as well, regardless of who we’re playing, to go out there and potentially play against the Barbarians like we want to play against Argentina and try and build some foundations there for our game and transfer what we’re doing in training into a live game.”