England reached the semi-final of the World Cup and defeated champions Ireland in the Six Nations, Northampton and Harlequins reached the last four of the Champions Cup and the Premiership campaign has been painted in vibrant colours.
“There is plenty to be positive about,” said Ford, the Sale and England outside-half. “The two semi-finalists performed creditably, staying in the games, firing shots and believing in themselves. They fought to the end but did not quite get the result.
“The Premiership has gone up another level, which is great for all involved, and England’s last two performances in the Six Nations showed we are heading in the right direction. It is natural to go through ebbs and flows – if anyone had the potion to sustain success, they would do very well.”
Ford won the first of his 96 England caps 10 years ago, but this year’s Six Nations was different for him because his friend from schooldays, Owen Farrell, was not involved having taken a sabbatical from Test rugby which will be extended after his decision to move to Paris next season.
Bu hikaye The Rugby Paper dergisinin May 12, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Rugby Paper dergisinin May 12, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Minikin sparks a party at Twickenham for Yorkshire
EUPHORIC scenes swept round Ionians ground as Lewis Minikin dashed over to score Yorkshire's fourth try to send the white rose to Twickenham for the first time in 16 years.
Rebels facing tough test against 'Canes
SUPER Rugby Pacific play-off spots were confirmed this weekend, with the soon-to-be extinct Melbourne Rebels living to fight another day in eighth place.
Ospreys' Nicky just too tricky for Cardiff
LEICESTER-BOUND, Smith scored Nicky two tries as Ospreys squeezed into the playoffs with a bonus-point victory over a battling Cardiff in an enthralling game.
Quins want to throw fitting farewell party
HARLEQUINS stars Shaunagh Brown, Rachael Burford and Emily Scott start their final game for the club today.
Mapletoft set for Georgia challenge
ENGLAND U20s head coach Mark Mapletoft has confirmed his 30-player squad that travel to Georgia next week in preparation for next month's World Championship.
Gloucester put faith in 'some old heads'
IT was typical of Gloucester's season - make that the last couple that when they came up against a front five in last weekend's Challenge Cup final that contained four World Cup winners they were missing three frontline forwards.
Smith has final say for Saints
NORTHAMPTON Saints, having run teams ragged in glorious fashion all season, scrummaged and muscled their way to their first Premiership final since 2014 but a resilient Saracens contested the issue until the final whistle.
Finally! Bath hold nerve to see off Sharks
BATH are one victory away from winning the Premiership for the first time after surviving a Sale comeback, but they are likely to be underdogs against a Northampton that has been a couple more years in the making.
Chessum 'gutted' to miss out on England
OLLIE Chessum admits he is \"gutted\" to be missing out on a busy summer with England in the southern hemisphere.
Boyd got me back on track - Ludlam
LEWIS left the Ludlam Franklin's Gardens turf in a Northampton jersey for perhaps the last time on Friday night, six years after he thought about ending his career because he feared it was going nowhere.
