George Ford says England fly-half scrutiny has 'always been the thing' as he talks about relationships with Marcus Smith and Fin Smith

George Ford says scrutiny around England's fly-half position has "always been the thing" since he came into the national team, amid more debate this month over the three current No. 10s - himself and the Smiths', Marcus and Fin. Ford starts for England against New Zealand at Allianz Stadium on Saturday, in a mouthwatering encounter to be shown live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

George Ford says the England fly-half position has "always been the thing" as he opened up on his relationships with fellow No. 10s Fin Smith and Marcus Smith.

With these three individuals in his ranks, Steve Borthwick is blessed with a talented variety of outside-halves, and has - so far this autumn - preferred Ford as his first choice, with the Sale man starting against Australia and now against New Zealand on Saturday.

Fin Smith started against Fiji but has dropped out of the 23 this weekend, while Marcus Smith has not appeared at 10, but is on the bench for the visit of the All Blacks to Allianz Stadium.

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Ahead of what is set to be a gripping Quilter Nations Series battle between two unbeaten sides this autumn - live on TNT Sports and discovery+ - Ford took time out to talk about the fly-half dynamic.

"Obviously we are all three 10s, the same position," Ford told TNT Sports as part of a media briefing at England's Pennyhill Park base.

"It's not me against Fin, it's not me against Marcus, it's not Fin against Marcus - it's not.

"People like to talk it up as 'oh, he's won the race'. It's honestly not like that.

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"There's a respect here where you compete as hard as you can in training. There are two teams in training, there are two 10s, you want to compete, you want to win, of course you do, you want to win.

"But Steve selects the team, he selects the guy playing, he selects the guy who's finishing and the guy who's not involved, whatever it may be.

"And the respect we have for each other is that we help each other out an enormous amount to make sure the team wins at the weekend.

"Fin and Marcus are both great lads, absolutely brilliant lads. Fin played brilliantly last week, he's gutted and it's unfortunate he's not involved this week, but the way he's been in the week is absolutely brilliant.

"It helps us prepare, hopefully helps us go and get a result at the weekend.

"It's always the thing, it always has been the thing since I've come into an England environment, the No. 10 position.

"And I get it, I get it, because of what's gone on previously and it is a big position in the English game.

"We compete in training but we're unbelievably respectful and our relationships are great as well.

"The most important thing is the team, whoever's playing."

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'Let's keep going at them'

Ford was at the centre of a dramatic end to last year's meeting between the two teams, seeing a late penalty hit the post and then a drop goal go wide in the final moments, as New Zealand triumphed by the barest of margins, 24-22.

Ford was asked what he has sought to change in the 12 months since that denouement.

He said: "Whenever you want three points to win a game, you've got to make sure you've still got an attacking mindset to go and play, try and get on the front foot and speed of ball, because you've got a better chance of forcing a penalty or kicking a drop goal off the back of that.

"If you look back, we probably went back about 15-20 metres before we kicked the ball [the drop goal].

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"I look back to that game and we did so many good things. Just the execution at those crucial moments at the end of the game.

"And I think the key thing for us is let's just keep going at them. Let's absolutely keep going at them, don't have a set-up mentality, we're not setting up here to try and win the game, we're actually going at them to go and win the game.

"There's a bit of a difference in our mindset there. And we've had that, I think, in the last few games, you see the bench come on and the intensity goes through the roof. That's exactly what we want."

Watch and stream England v New Zealand this Saturday from 2pm, live on TNT Sports and discovery+

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