#5. George Ford
It has been a long journey from Saddleworth Rangers where George Ford was first involved in rugby league at the age of four.
He moved on to Wigan Warriors and Bradford Bulls and was later a contemporary of Owen Farrell at St George’s School, Harpenden. He became the youngest player to make his professional debut in England at 16 years and 237 days when Leicester Tigers met Yorkshire Carnegie in their 2009 LV= Cup match.
George scored 59 points during England’s Junior World Championship campaign in Italy in 2011, having contributed 76 points to their Grand Slam earlier in the year, and was crowned the World Rugby Young Player of the Year. He was included in the England Senior Elite Player Squad for the first time in January 2014. George’s first Test appearance came off the bench for Owen Farrell in the final minutes of England’s 29-18 victory over Wales at Twickenham in March 2014. He was part of the England squads that won the 2016 and 2017 Six Nations and started in the 2019 Rugby World Cup final at fly half.