Speculation: George Ford
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Bath coach Toby Booth has dismissed speculation linking Leicester Tigers fly-half George Ford with a move to The Rec next season.
Ford is rated as one of the brightest prospects in English rugby and was the recipient of the IRB Junior Player of the Year award in 2011. However, the 19-year-old has been forced to play second fiddle to England fly-half Toby Flood at Leicester, leading to speculation he might leave the club.
Booth though has denied the link, citing Ford's father Mike, who works on the Bath coaching staff, as his source.
"His father, Mike [Bath's defensive head coach], should know and he hasn't signed with us, he wants to stay at Leicester. And George is categoric about that. And that is direct from Mike," said Booth to The Daily Telegraph.
"George wants to fight it out with Toby Flood because this was a very important period for him in December and January, because he wanted to go head to head with Flood and try to prove himself at Leicester.
"That's as far as we know, and I think it is well-documented that there are talks with him to try and renew his contract and as far as we know, he'll be a Leicester player. What he does and the decisions around that are purely based on what he does in January-February when Flood is available."
Comments
jamesliveinhope says...
where are all of these stories coming from? we've now had various Bath coaches having to deny Joseph, Faletau and now Ford and it must be unsettling for current players too.
Posted 20:59 07th January 2013
APV1 says...
@ kybone - our posts must have overlapped.
Posted 16:52 07th January 2013
APV1 says...
We either need to commit to Heathcote and accept that he gets the starting shirt, or accept that we've got a duff signing. I know some would argue that we should play Beaver because he's so expensive and experienced and we shouldn't let that be wasted, but the results aren't there.
Look how well Burns and Ford are getting on. That's not just talent, that's game time too. And that's what Heathcote needs. he needs to play the other 10s and learn by doing, rather than watching from the side and learning by watching.
Posted 16:22 07th January 2013
kybone says...
APV1- 'Heathcote isn't getting enough experience'- Where exactly is he supposed to get his experience. For me Bath have one of the worst first choice 10's in the Prem with Donald, so why not give Heathcote the game time.
Posted 16:13 07th January 2013
Frooschman says...
Given his Dad's position I'm amazed it's taken this long for this story to get going! Slow news day? If I was George I'd stay where I was. At 5'9" and 80kgs he's going to have to do a helluva lot less tackling behind the Leics pack than he would behind our powderpuff eight! Why don't we try switching Louw to ten!
Posted 15:38 07th January 2013
TVaddict says...
@APV1
Maybe once Ford has overtaken Flood you guys can get Flood? ;)
I feel it would be best for Ford to move to another club to get more game time. Northampton would be best for both parties.
Posted 15:35 07th January 2013
markpat says...
Dan Carter? :-)
Posted 14:06 07th January 2013
1st58 says...
Please, no Ford - SIr I M made a massive blunder signing Donald, and that has had a major negative impact on the club - we cannot make another costly mistake like that (ok not so costly but I suspect the contract wouldnt be cheap).
Posted 13:50 07th January 2013
Centre12 says...
Bath won't sign Ford, their Hiring & Firing department aren't that switched on, the two successful signings that they did make in recent years in Butch James and Flo were pure accident
Posted 13:42 07th January 2013
APV1 says...
He'll overtake Flood soon enough. We do need a top-notch 10, though. Donald is not performing and Heathcote isn't getting enough experience. But who..?
Posted 11:09 07th January 2013