Ford must take the opportunity afforded by Farrell injury, says Dewi Morris

George Ford only has himself to blame if he doesn't take this Six Nations opportunity, says Sky Sports' Dewi Morris.

With the very unfortunate injury to Owen Farrell, it has forced Stuart Lancaster's hand in a way that he wouldn't have wanted, but I feel it's going to answer a lot of questions for the England boss and will allow him to put his fly-half debate to bed over the course of the Championship.

Millennium Stadium on the opening weekend of a Six Nations against the Welsh is about as big as it gets outside a World Cup,

I don't see why he would play Stephen Myler given his lack of experience; Myler is good, but you aren't going to learn anything by bringing him on. With Ford and Danny Cipriani, you get to see if the former can handle the cauldron of international rugby and with the latter, you will learn if his club form will translate to the big stage of the Six Nations and beyond.

Cipriani has played well behind a good pack of forwards and he has played well without that luxury. He has proven all season long that he is in top form. If Lancaster goes with Ford - and I think he will - then it makes more sense to have Cipriani on the bench.

Ford will have a lot to prove in terms of his ability to handle the pressure. Not that he hasn’t done that for Bath, but Millennium Stadium on the opening weekend of a Six Nations against the Welsh is about as big as it gets outside a World Cup. It’s the perfect time for him to prove that he has what is necessary to lead England’s campaign.

Debate

There was plenty of debate around whether he should have started ahead of Farrell towards the end of the year but now he has a clear run of it and will only have himself to blame if he doesn’t make that step up.

People talk a lot about his kicking game but if you look at the percentages he has been better than Farrell in both the Premiership and in Europe. That doesn’t make him a better fly-half overall, but it certainly does deflate the argument that by selecting him over Farrell you lose your goal-kicker.

What I think Ford offers is a player who will spark the backline. With the injuries that Lancaster has suffered in the midfield I do think that my previous calls for Bath’s midfield pairing to be given an England start is even more pertinent. If you could have the ball moving from Ford to Eastmond to Joseph I think you will find that the creativity that England has been lacking will come to life.

There is plenty of talk about the threat of Jamie Roberts and there will have been those who think that Barritt should have started across from him to nullify the danger (before he was injured) but for me it’s important that England focus on what works best for them, and not spend all their time thinking about the opposition and how to cancel out their threats with individuals.

There are plenty of other injuries – mostly in the midfield – but one place where there are injuries that don’t worry me is in the forwards. England have never struggled to produce top quality forwards and Graham Rowntree has made a habit of moulding each player he has tutored into the type of ugly pack member that’s going to give Lancaster’s backline questions, the kind of consistent ball that will help them deliver answers.

Spotlight

On another note this weekend we will see the Wolfhounds host the Saxons in Cork and that will give a few people a chance to put their names in the minds of the England coaching staff. People have been talking at length about Burgess but the time for him to step up onto the international scene is not this Six Nations campaign. He is rightly in the Saxons squad given what a talent he is but he hasn’t had a chance to properly acclimatise himself to his new game.

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In rugby league when a player is tackled the game comes to stop but in union that’s when it all begins, and with the likes of Sam Warburton and Dan Lydiate looking to patrol the breakdown in Cardiff it would have been too much to ask of Burgess to make that leap.

What I am interested to see in that game is how he is able to unleash the talent that’s all around him. Marland Yarde and Christian Wade will be looking to get some genuine space off the back of the inevitable attention that will be on Burgess, and Burgess’ ability to offload with all that attention will tell Stuart Lancaster a lot about the future of Burgess in the England set up.

Wade in particular is someone who is capable of creating his own chances but if he links well with Burgess out wide then they can both make a statement of intent with plenty of rugby still to be played before the World Cup squad is announced.