Leicester boss Richard Cockerill insists he will resist the temptation to throw talented fly-half George Ford into the deep end.
Leicester to give talented fly-half time to develop
Leicester boss Richard Cockerill insists he will resist the temptation to throw talented fly-half George Ford into the deep end.
With Toby Flood facing around two months out with a knee injury and Sam Vesty having left in the summer to move to Bath, the Tigers suddenly find themselves short of option at fly-half.
Jeremy Staunton will step into the immediate void left by Flood's injury - with centre Billy Twelvetrees set to provide back-up ahead of Ford.
The 17-year-old Ford, son of England defence coach Mike, has been tipped to have a bright future in the game - and is already in the record books as the youngest player to represent Leicester.
Ford, whose brother Joe now plays for Northampton, has also captained England Under-18s and been called up to the Under-20s squad for the coming year.
However Cockerill will not rush Ford into first team action.
"George is a very young man and is unlikely to be chucked into the cauldron," Cockerill told the
Leicester Mercury.
"But Billy can play fly-half and the way the game is being played this season in a loose and fractious way, it may suit his game.
"Toby has had a scan and we are awaiting specialist reports on that to decide what the next course of action is. Until we get those through, there is no more news on him."
