George Ford: How Pilates and the League fueled England’s comeback

Ford thanks his rugby league roots in part for that ability. He grew up in a village outside Oldham, and received offers from Wigan, Warrington and Bradford to join their youth groups.

In the 13-man system, the defenses are more defined, but there are more passages of play. In those Teen League games, there was a lot of interest in Ford spotting mismatches and coaching him a lot to do so.

Years of repetition increase accuracy and simplify the process.

At the test level, there are only a few seconds in the chaos to make each decision.

It took England coach Steve Borthwick a little longer to settle on Ford as his No. 10.

Ford claimed all 27 points in England’s win over Argentina in their opening match at the 2023 World Cup, but was a partial option on the bench by the time the knockout stages came around.

With Owen Farrell opting to withdraw from international duty in the following Six Nations Championship, Ford started all five matches at the age of ten.

Injury then gave Marcus Smith the opportunity to replace Ford in the pecking order on the tour of New Zealand in 2024, ahead of Finn Smith’s appearance in last year’s Six Nations.

But eight starts in the past nine Tests – Ford was comfortable with the autumn win over Fiji – represents his longest run as an England fly-half in six years.

He is enjoying the stage it brought him back to.

“When you are in the Six Nations, you feel like you are playing in a special tournament,” he said.

“Any chance you get to go to Murrayfield, Cardiff, Dublin – it’s a great event.

“As a player, what a great thing to be a part of, to go and win and have that memory.

“That’s why we work so hard during the week to try to do that.”

In the week, at this moment, in the past years and in the Pilates studio. Ford draws strength from them all.