England World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi says George Ford will be relishing the challenge of facing Australia at Twickenham on Saturday.
Ford has retained the No 10 shirt after impressing during his full debut against Samoa last weekend. The 21-year-old kicked 13 points and looked dangerous with ball in hand as he provided England with a cutting edge that they had been missing.
Australia will ask tougher questions of Ford, with their half-back pairing of Nick Phipps and Bernard Foley scoring three tries between them against Ireland, but Alphonsi says the Bath youngster is up to the task.
Alphonsi told Sky Sports News HQ: “George Ford has been waiting a while to get his chance in the No 10 shirt, and did incredibly well against Samoa.
“He is a real threat in attack and his kicking game is one of his biggest strengths. He also attacks the gainline, which allows people the opportunity to run off him.
“Australia are obviously a different kettle of fish to Samoa, but I think George will thrive and will be looking forward to the challenge of coming up against the Australian half-backs.”
Ford will have a new partner at inside centre, with Gloucester’s Billy Twelvetrees preferred to Owen Farrell, and Alphonsi admits time is running out for England to settle on a midfield partnership ahead of the World Cup.
Combination
“Stuart Lancaster wanted to try Ford and Farrell together against Samoa and the combination probably didn’t work out as well as they’d have hoped,” she said.
“I think having Twelvetrees alongside Ford will be a good combination. We know what Twelvetrees can do.
“Centre combinations have always been a bit of a challenge. We’ve got Brad Barritt, who is a physical specimen, especially in a defensive position. Twelvetrees offers a lot of distribution skills, and then you’ve Kyle Eastmond as well.
“It is very hard to leave Owen Farrell out as he offers a lot at both fly-half and centre. In terms of what you pick, it’s a challenge for Stuart right now.
“These autumn internationals have really shown that he has a number of combinations, but less than 11 months before the World Cup, he’s really got to find out who his centre combination is going to be.”
Australia are on a two-game losing streak but were unfortunate to come out on the wrong side of last weekend’s Test thriller with Ireland, and Alphonsi says England must kick intelligently against the Wallabies.
Physical
“Australia are going to work hard and be really physical, and Michael Cheika likes his teams to play from anywhere on the park,” she said.
“One of the key people for me is Israel Folau. When you kick the ball to him we need to make sure we kick it appropriately, because when he has got the ball he’ll run it back at you.
"Adam Ashley-Cooper is another player who loves to run the ball. When you give him the ball on the gainline he will make ground.
“I don’t think there is anyone you can classify as a weakness in Australia’s side. It is going to be a physical challenge for England but one they’ll look forward to.
“It has not been the best of Autumn Internationals but the key thing for England is to stamp their mark early on, to really go out there and put them under pressure.
“England will want to finish November on a high and prove to themselves that they can produce 80 minutes of good rugby. The last few Tests have been okay; they’ve played good bits of rugby in various parts but they need to do it for 80 minutes.
“Australia are in England’s pool at the World Cup so we need to make sure that we get this win to give confidence to the boys.”
Watch England v Australia live on Sky Sports 2 on Saturday from 1.30pm