{"id":295271,"date":"2023-10-05T22:24:36","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T22:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=295271"},"modified":"2023-10-05T22:24:36","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T22:24:36","slug":"england-are-getting-the-band-back-together-for-samoa-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/england-are-getting-the-band-back-together-for-samoa-clash\/","title":{"rendered":"England are getting the band back together for Samoa clash"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>George Ford and Owen Farrell first caught the attention of Steve Borthwick at the 2007 World Cup as kids following their fathers around the pitch&#8230; sixteen years later, they&#8217;re playing together for England again<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>England face Samoa in final World Cup pool match on Saturday afternoon<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Steve Borthwick\u2019s side have already qualified for the tournament&#8217;s quarter final<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Mail Sport&#8217;s new WhatsApp Channel: Get the breaking news and exclusives here\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It was during England\u2019s dogged run to the 2007 World Cup final that Steve Borthwick first cast eyes on George Ford and Owen Farrell.<\/p>\n<p>Borthwick, a second row at the time, immediately spotted their passion as they followed their fathers around the training pitch.<\/p>\n<p>Sixteen years later they are back together. Borthwick has graduated to head coach and picked Ford and Farrell together for the first time since 2021 for Saturday&#8217;s game against Samoa.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018You\u2019d see them around the hotel and playing rugby and you saw, even back then, the passion they had to be playing for England,\u2019 said Borthwick.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018They couldn\u2019t get enough of it. You could see how close they already were in developing a relationship and it\u2019s continued to develop. To have them both playing together in the same team is really exciting.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/05\/21\/76214885-12599807-England_will_field_George_Ford_and_Owen_Farrell_above_together_f-a-23_1696539072361.jpg\" height=\"343\" width=\"306\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/05\/21\/76214907-12599807-Due_to_injuries_and_suspensions_Ford_above_and_Farrell_have_not_-m-22_1696539065568.jpg\" height=\"343\" width=\"306\"><\/p>\n<p>England will field George Ford (left) and Owen Farrell (right) together for the first time since 2021 in their final World Cup pool match against Samoa<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/05\/21\/76224611-12599807-image-a-26_1696539192706.jpg\" height=\"425\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Steve Borthwick\u2019s side have already qualified for the quarter final and will use Saturday\u2019s fixture to prepare for a probable knockout game with Fiji<\/p>\n<p>England are laying foundations for the knockout stages, opting for the tried-and-tested. It is the same stadium where they cut loose against Chile, but the tactics could be very different. England will tighten up as the competition progresses, reflected by the decision to leave Marcus Smith on the bench and Henry Arundell out of the 23, despite his five tries against the South Americans.<\/p>\n<p>Ford reminisced about his days returning balls to Jonny Wilkinson at Twickenham, while Farrell could pass the iconic No 10 as the country\u2019s all-time leading points scorer.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He\u2019s chasing down probably the best English 10 in history and he\u2019s one kick away from surpassing that, which is incredible from Owen\u2019s point of view,\u2019 said Ford. \u2018The biggest thing is how consistent you\u2019ve got to be to give yourself an opportunity to do that. Owen will say himself that he doesn\u2019t play the game to break records. He\u2019s going to do something special over the weekend. All of the boys will be chuffed for him if and when he does it.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Saturday will be the 14th time the playmakers have started together and the eighth time they will combine with Manu Tuilagi. They also played together at youth level and Ford expects muscle memory to kick in as they prepare to face a physical but out of form Samoan side.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s more of a feel and awareness thing really,\u2019 said Ford. \u2018You don\u2019t want to be too scripted or structured. You just want to be flexible in the way you\u2019re playing, that\u2019s the thing about playing together so many times.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/05\/21\/76224627-12599807-image-a-25_1696539154940.jpg\" height=\"404\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ford spoke highly of long-term team-mate Farrell prior to England&#8217;s clash with Samoa<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Sometimes it\u2019s not even communication, it might just be a bit of eye contact. When Owen finds himself at first receiver that\u2019s a trigger to go a bit further out and vice versa. I\u2019d love to tell you it is more complicated and there is a special ingredient but there\u2019s not. Even though it\u2019s a bit of time since we played together, the understanding and connection will be as strong as it\u2019s ever been.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Not having done it for a period of time could benefit us because it sharpens you up a bit. We\u2019ve been having discussions all week about that combination, whereas when you\u2019ve been doing it you probably take it for granted.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>They will combine in a backline featuring Joe Marchant, who starts on the wing having been one of the team\u2019s most effective carriers and kick-chasers. England are likely to launch their aerial assault off the back of a dominant pack, boosted by the return of Tom Curry from suspension. The flanker will combine with Courtney Lawes and Ben Earl in the back row in what looks like England\u2019s strongest XV.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018You have this incredible blend of back rows who move so well and cover the ground so well,\u2019 said Borthwick. \u2018What you have seen in this tournament is that players who have speed and footwork dominate collisions. It\u2019s been paramount. It\u2019s great to have these three back together again.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12599807\/George-Ford-Owen-Farrell-caught-attention-Steve-Borthwick-2007-World-Cup-kids-following-fathers-pitch-sixteen-years-later-theyre-playing-England-again.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>George Ford and Owen Farrell first caught the attention of Steve Borthwick at the 2007 World Cup as kids following <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295270,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>England are getting the band back together for Samoa clash - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/england-are-getting-the-band-back-together-for-samoa-clash\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"England are getting the band back together for Samoa clash - 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