For the Ford family this has already been a week to cherish. On Wednesday Mike and George Ford became the first father and son combo to be voted coach and player of the season; Saturday is about confirming that accolade. Should Bath beat Leicester and make their first Premiership grand final since 2004, it will be a mightily significant moment for both clubs.
It would certainly be a painful reminder for the Tigers of what they lost when Ford Jr left Welford Road two years ago to relocate to the West Country. Since doing so the player has established himself as England’s first-choice fly-half, the baton-whirling ringmaster in the country’s most dazzling backline. The last time Leicester played at the Recreation Ground, in September, they lost 45-0 and, by common consent, were lucky to get nil.
So what will Bath do? They can be absolutely certain the Tigers will still be sore and come hard at them up front. Do they dig in accordingly and settle for an arm-wrestle or do they stay true to their instincts as they did in their similarly must-win European pool game against Toulouse back in January? Enter the Ford family, whose tactical instincts have been consistently impressive so far.
It can be a fine balance but both men firmly believe their team have developed into Martini winners: any time, any place, anywhere. “People say we play this expansive wide game but it you look at it carefully it all comes off the back of the forwards being dominant,” says the younger Ford. “We want to be a team that can win in a variety of ways. I think we’ve played some great attacking rugby but we’ve also had games when we’ve had to grind results out. We’re more than capable of doing that.”
His father is even more convinced. “If there was to be a dogfight – a mauling, brawling game – I do think we can win it. It’s staggering the potential this team has got.”
At the back of everyone’s minds, though, will be their Champions Cup quarter-final against Leinster, when a frustratingly error-strewn first half left them too much to do late on. The memory of England’s Six Nations near miss is another reason why the 22-year-old fly-half is determined to nail down a title this time because, above all else, the former IRB world junior player of the year craves collective trophies rather than individual gongs.
“It’s the next step for us as a team, to win something. In your career you want to win trophies and enjoy special memories with your team-mates. It will mean everything to us but at the moment we’re not looking beyond Leicester. Play-off football is much more of a pressure game and Leicester have always been brilliant at it,” says Ford Jr.
With Ed Slater back in the visiting back row and the Youngs brothers, Ben and Tom, in excellent form, nothing is remotely guaranteed. What the Tigers traditionally do best is prey on mental weakness and force tiny mistakes, at which point it matters little how artistic Bath are behind the scrum.
“To win championships and trophies is a difficult thing,” acknowledges Ford, stressing the need for accuracy in thought and deed. “Every play counts. As we saw in the Six Nations with England we were close on points difference but there were instances in every game when, if we’d done one or two things a little better, we’d have probably ended up winning the title. It’s the same with the Premiership.”
He will be quietly encouraged by the stats that suggest it is better to finish second in the Premiership table rather than top the regular-season ladder. Of the last dozen champions, only four finished first after 22 games. In 21 previous semi-finals, furthermore, there have been only four away victories, underlining the scale of the challenge facing the orange-clad Tigers, who are without Geoff Parling and Logovi’i Mulipola.
Perhaps even more pertinently, the harder, faster pitches at this stage of the year suit Ford and friends more obviously than Leicester, who have not broken any try-scoring records this season. Ford is respectful of Freddie Burns’ ability to break open a game but he also has Kyle Eastmond and Jonathan Joseph at his elbow. Not since the days of Simon Halliday and Jeremy Guscott have Bath purred forwards so smoothly and the younger Ford is suitably thankful. “With the backline we’re got, you’ve just got to give them the ball in space and let them do what they do. To be part of that is massively enjoyable.”
There is a reason, though, why Ford was named Aviva’s player of the year above all the others. For such a young man he has a veteran’s rugby brain and the hunger for more game time, which precipitated his exit from Welford Road, has been increasingly satisfied. “Playing week in, week out, has been massive for me as a fly-half. You’re constantly making decisions and that sharpens your instincts. That experience of managing games has helped me the most.”
It is easy to forget Ford has already played in two Premiership finals, winning and losing one in the colours of Leicester. Coming off the bench in 2013 to replace Toby Flood he scored 12 points in the 37-17 win over Northampton and his regard for the Tigers’ mental strength remains with him. “They’re a very proud club and last September’s result would have hurt them. They’ll want to come back and get some sort of revenge on us.”
He sounds right up for the challenge – “If you’re not feeling good for these kind of games you’re probably in the wrong business” – even at the end of the most physically demanding year of his life. A Bath versus Saracens final would also pit him against his old schoolboy mate Owen Farrell; how the two young sparring partners – and their fathers – would relish that opportunity.
Then again there is also a definite glint in the eyes of Francois Louw and Sam Burgess, proven big-match players desperate for some Twickenham action. The Tigers may have made the play-offs for 11 successive years but their domestic aura is not quite what it was. These days it is increasingly about trying to overtake Team Ford.