Now It's Down To George To Pull This Show Together

GEORGE Ford will feel a bit like the street magician ‘Dynamo’ when he looks at his Leicester back line options before selecting which trick to bring out of the magic box.

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It could be sending Manu Tuilagi crashing over the gain line, or picking from an assortment of other receivers. These include using Matt Toomua as a second play-maker, or putting Jonny May or Telusa Veainu through gaps into open space.

With the array of international back line talent the Tigers have assembled this season, the challenge for Ford is picking the right option and then executing it with precision.

His ability to meet those requirements is why, with the England fly-half back at the helm for Leicester, you have to take them seriously.

At his best, Ford is the finest attacking fly-half in the Northern Hemisphere. He is a student of the game who can put theory into practical motion. At Bath he had a lot of options with the power of Matt Banahan and Semesa Rokoduguni, and the rapier running of Anthony Watson and Jonathan Joseph – but this star-studded Tigers back line offers him even more choice.

He knows scrum-half Ben Youngs very well already as part of an established England partnership, and also from his earlier stint with Leicester. That understanding means that the half-back gears should mesh smoothly from the start.

However, for this Tigers back line to come together his linking with Toomua, who will probably be at 12 as a second distributor, will be crucial. The combination of English and Aussie minds in terms of how to run the game will be exciting, especially as Toomua has also played a fair amount at fly-half.