TRU Talks England, the Premiership and Awards with George Ford...

Bath and England playmaker George Ford has been voted the Young Player of the Year at the annual Rugby Players Association Awards, to cap-off an incredible breakthrough year.

The 21-year-old fly-half beat a handful of prestigious competition at the Battersea-based awards ceremony, to add to his already long list of accolades at such a young age.

The former Rishworth School student began his rugby on the other side of the code as he was involved with both the Wigan Warriors and Bradford Bulls academies, before making the switch at Leeds Carnegie, followed by Leicester Tigers and then, finally, joining Bath at the start of this season.

The promise was there from an early age with a nomination for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award in 2009 and after becoming the first Englishman and youngest player ever to win the title of IRB Junior Player of the Year.

This season at Bath has been George’s first week-in week-out season and he has never looked back.

Under the watchful eye of Head Coach and farther Mike Ford – England’s former Defence Coach – George and his youthful Bath side have propelled themselves into one country’s premier rugby clubs.

Although, after enjoying a prolific season within the league’s top four play-off spots heartbreak set in for the West Country side, as they lost the last regular season game of the year to Harlequins at the Stoop; which saw Quins leap-frog them in the standings to take the final play-off spot.

Before winning his most recent awards Talking Rugby Union’s Max Skofic chatted to the England fly-half about his year so far, the Premiership season and his international future.

Unfortunately, though, the only place to begin was the Premiership ‘quarter-final’ defeat (as it was dubbed) to Quins away from home.

“Obviously, we, the club, are all just naturally disappointed and gutted after the game.

“We’d been in the top four for the majority of the season but, you know, we got pipped in the last game of the season, which is just the way things happen sometimes.

“But I do think the reaction this week, since the game, has been a positive one after the initial feeling of being down but we’ve got an Amlin Cup final to look forward to, so we need to make sure from now that we finish the season on a high.”

Bath will look to finish their season with a bang this coming Friday night at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium when they take on English rivals Northampton in the Amlin Challenge Cup final.

As Bath prepare for the final, the black, blues and whites will have their eyes firmly set on lifting the club’s third European crown, after winning the Heineken Cup in 1998 and the Challenge Cup in 2008.

Head Coach, and George’s dad, Mike Ford before the game said: “We’ll leave everything out on the pitch on Friday, that’s for certain. We’ve got no tomorrows or no week afters.

“We’re in the 50th week of the season and the boys have sacrificed a lot. It makes sense for us, having the talent we’ve got in the squad, to win something.”

It is youth and talent that have shone through for Bath this season with the likes of George, himself, and young England winger Anthony Watson catalysed their success.

Seconding the prominence of youth in the Bath ranks was Captain Stuart Hooper who maintains that it is the young blood at Bath who have spearheaded the club’s rise to prominence in the Premiership.

In response to this George agreed “100 per cent.

“The squad we have recruited at Bath is a massively exciting one and I think we are a team that are only going to get better.

“If we carry on working hard and carry on sticking to what we know is a good environment, with new players coming in, then there is only one way that we are going to go; but we have got to get that right first.”

Before George picked up his award this week, he reiterated that the nomination was just as much a reflection on the team as it was his own season:

“Well, yeah, it’s obviously a great honour to be nominated for the award; especially with the other lads that have been nominated alongside me as well.

“But I think it’s more a reflection of the way Bath have played as a team this year: there’s a number of young lads in that team that could have been nominated too.”

George’s first season at Bath also signified his breakthrough into the full England team when he was selected as a part of the RBS 6 Nations squad.

George featured against Wales and then again against Italy, where, with only a few minutes on the field, he showed his class and skill with a darting run through the Azzuri defence to set up Chris Robshaw for a try.

“Any kid growing up and playing rugby dreams of playing for their country, George began.

“Even when I was playing you can’t really believe that it is happening – it’s such a great honour.

“To get on the pitch for the first time at Twickenham was a very special privilege and one that I hope I can relive again in the future.”

Following on from the 6 Nations, England fly out to New Zealand to face the World Champion All Blacks in their own backyard – the biggest possible test before the World Cup next year.

However, rumours have broke that George may not be fit to play and have to miss the tour altogether due to a shoulder injury.

It is said that George will have to undergo surgery on the problem after Bath’s Challenge Cup final on Friday and that he is now “expected” to miss the tour altogether. One that he would have been odds-on to start the first test in, with the absence of Owen Farrell, due to the Premiership final.

In his absence Freddie Burns of Gloucester and Sale's Danny Cipriani will compete for the number 10 shirt in Auckland.

When we spoke to George he managed to keep his shoulder problems very close to his chest and, instead, reiterated the importance of the coming three test matches against the All Blacks.

“It’s going to be an incredibly tough tour, going into their own backyard, against the best team in the world but I think this team is filled with confidence and it is something that we are all looking forward to.

“I think it will be a learning curve for us all but hopefully one which we can stamp our authority down on to.”

For all of the current England players a home World Cup, although still a year away, has got to be spurring the players on to solidify their place in the squad and George agreed that it was in his mind:

“As a rugby player you always want to be playing on the biggest stages in the world, so of course the World Cup is the place to do that, and especially with it being a home one in England it’s massive for all of us.

“So it is one thing that you have got in the back of your mind, you know, it’s only a year away from us now.

“We have just got to try to do everything that we can to put ourselves in the position to be selected.”

However, George’s closest rival for the starting 10 spot is former England age-group teammate and close friend, Owen Farrell and although they have known each other a long time, George admitted that he has his eyes firmly set on being the England number 10.

“It’s very competitive, don’t get me wrong,” George began, “we’re both hungry for the shirt and we both want to be playing in that shirt.

“We are good mates and whoever it is that is picked, or who is starting, or whoever is not playing we will always support each other for the best of the team.

“We have been like that since we have known each other, through the age-groups and the reason why we are such good mates is because we both have the same mind-set on the game and rugby – we are both obsessed by it; it’s a great experience.”

George Ford was speaking on behalf of Land Rover, who are partner to Hitz, a Premiership Rugby programme which tackles some of the greatest challenges facing young people today. www.Jaguarlandrover.com