Ford in frame for the second Test

Date published: 16 June 2016


ENGLAND will restore Oldham-born George Ford at fly-half for Saturday's second Test against Australia at AAMI Park.

Eddie Jones will reunite the Grand Slam-winning 10-12 axis of Ford and Owen Farrell as the tourists target the victory that will complete an historic series in the southern hemisphere.

Ford was brought on in the 29th minute of the 39-28 victory in Brisbane with Luther Burrell, who had been exposed in defence on several occasions, making way.

The reshuffle saw Farrell, the starting fly-half, replace Burrell at inside centre and the change in personnel provided the catalyst for England's fightback.

A bold early substitution by Jones was rewarded with arguably Ford's best performance in 24 caps after the 23-year-old's vision set-up tries for wings Marland Yarde and Jack Nowell.

It is hoped the twin playmakers will offer England the direction they need if they are to seize an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.

"Australia will be desperate because they will be disappointed with the first result," Ford said.

"They played some good stuff in the first 20 minutes of that first Test and will aim to do that for the full 80.

"They'll bring physicality as always and will want to get one back on us, but we're desperate as well."

England's fourth win on Australian soil is among the greatest results in Red Rose history, but Ford insists they must not dwell on events at Suncorp Stadium if they are to close out the series.

"We're very happy with the win. It was great to get the series off to a win, but the attention quickly turned to this week," Ford said.

"We have another huge challenge and we know we must improve our performance if we want to get a good result. The lads are pretty focused.

"We've made sure we're professional in everything we do in terms of recovery and the review side of things."