Thought I'd nip into this convo. Sanchez is a flaky 10 even when not under pressure. Gifted runner with a sprinkling of the unknown yes, but a great fly half no. Ditto Russell, although Russell is more of a hot and cold fly half. Lopez is a good fly half, but nothing more. I think Ford and Sexton are very close but Sexton's nous probably gives him the edge and he's a bit more abrasive.
Now coming to the Barrett question. Barrett isn't a normal 10 in the sense he's a good passer. He's a linking 10. He uses the options either side in Smith/TJ and Crotty/Laumape/SBW to set up plays where he can make a dart and look for a quick pop in support, but if you're asking me does he have the vision Ford does at 10, suffice to say I'll never agree to that. Barrett's world class but he's this weird hybrid of a 10/15 and he's not overly for me a good enough 10 naturally and at 15 I feel he's not on the ball enough.
I will agree with you on one thing though. Farrell isn't an international 10, he doesn't have the left to right pass or the ability to control a game like Ford/Sexton do. Great tackler, second receiving option and goal kicker but those are all the traits of a 12, not a 10. England are infinitely more dangerous with Ford + 1 other because it allows Ford even more time than he needs to run the game and pick the right decisions at key moments. As you also said, if the England forwards get beat up, it makes the Ford + 1 other option rather exposed. My only worry is we've been very lucky Ford is never injured, otherwise if either him or probably Robshaw got injured, we would have to change our style dramatically. Ford is arguably the lynchpin of the way England play and for me as a result of this, he's world class. 1 of the top 10 players on the planet.
Sorry but I have to agree with Wendigo, I don't see how Sanchez, Russell and Lopez can be put as better 10's than Ford or even Farrell. I'd also argue that if Barrett didn't have his blistering pace and the best team in the world around him, he wouldn't look anywhere near world class. His other skills as a Flyhalf really aren't that great. His kicking is actually pretty poor and his passing is primarily short pops. He's the best running FH I think Ford in the ABs would be superior to Barrett.
I can't think of many English fans who have ever agreed with my evaluation of Ford, I think there's a bit of what I'll call the Gordan D'Arcy effect going on. He plays a very specific role in a team of better players and does it very well. In Ireland and Leinster it was the likes of Sexton, BOD, Isa, Hickie, Kearney etc... and England have the likes of Farrell, Joseph, Watson, Daly etc... never mind mentioning the forwards. The result in Ireland was always an overrating of D'Arcy because we valued him so much and I think the same is happening here, it also resulted in D'Arce dissenters thinking he was trash which happens with Ford a bit too. Ford has yet to really make an impact in the club game yet despite having been given the tools in Bath (Maybe not to win a rake of silverware but more could have been done with that side with a better 10), we'll see what he can do for the Tigers this time, they've got a nice 2nd 5/8th.
As for Ford stepping into NZ and being better than Barrett, I highly doubt it. Barrett is admittedly a unique 10 and can't manage a game fantastically well occasionally needing Crotty to help steady the ship which I think is similar to Ford's relationship with Farrell. Despite this, Cruden never won his spot back after losing it to Barrett and he never really looked close to doing so. Cruden to me is much closer to Ford in his style of play than Barrett but is better than Ford in my opinion, I think he's more composed, manages his team better and also is much more of a threat running the ball - I'll get back to this because I think its important to my overall point - but that doesn't really suit NZ's style when everyone can pass the ball to a really high standard so they don't need the 10 to do it and Barrett is the better runner. If you stuck Barrett in England with Farrell I think you'd see England have much more space and it would suit him just as well because Farrell is there to manage a game.
Sanchez and Russell comparisons always get rebutted by consistency but they play in hugely inconsistent teams, when their teams are playing well everything goes through them. Sanchez was the second best 10 in RWC2015 playing with a good Argentinian side, he was in a system that allowed him to manage a game, his forwards were good enough to suck players in to go wide, his backs were good enough to force the wings to defend them and also open up space behind them to kick (not without his help, we'll get to that), he executed amazingly well and looked better than I've ever seen Ford who has this in virtually every game he plays with Jones. The same goes for Russell with Scotland this year minus the Twickenham game, I think both have the ability to do a little bit more than Ford with a little bit less around them.
Lopez rarely even gets this luxury being the most important player in an utterly useless French side and he's one of the best 10's to attempt to execute a gameplan with little to nothing around him. His performances for Clermont are incredible though, its hard to point out many times when its hard to play for Clermont and the French mentality of slacking when a game is all but over certainly doesn't help but watching him last year in Europe gives some good examples. The best of which was Lyon v Leinster. In that game there was a sense in the stadium at around 60 minutes that Leinster were coming back and winning it, the Clermont pack were desperately trying to stop Leinster and the outside backs were making plenty of stupid mistakes that they hadn't been earlier in the match and Lopez really stepped up. He kicked perfectly, he ran when he had to because the players around him couldn't be trusted, he slowed the game down calmed his team down and booked a place in the final and a MOTM interview at the end of the game, he was the difference for Clermont in the last 20 minutes when Leinster were all over them, he's done similar things in the Top 14 and but for an intercept pass to Barrett probably would likely have managed it v NZ last year. I really haven't seen anything in Ford's game to make me believe he has this particular type of resilience which to me is invaluable to a ten and only really present in Lopez and Sexton in today's game.
That brings me on to Sexton. Sexton and Ford are very similar players, one is probably as good at passing as the other as the best 10's in the world at it along with Cruden, they're both good kickers and I'd give Ford the advantage kicking for territory and Sexton the advantage kicking to retain possession, and really do the traditional roles of an out half as well as the other but I rank Sexton as the current best 10 in World rugby and out of Ford's league (Sexton is a vastly superior defender but we can ignore that so this post looks even more well thought out). Why? Ultimately its the same reason as why I think all of the others are better player and why I don't think Paddy Jackson, who I think is almost as good as Ford at everything I just mentioned, is. They're all bigger, stronger and/or faster than Ford and ultimately better runners of the ball, both get praised for bringing the ball to the line but while Ford plays flat he doesn't really carry it to contact/near contact. The out half position is going through something of a transition with professional rugby and its similar to what the NBA saw with the point guard in that the pass first point guard is all but dead and the ones remaining have the introduction of the 3-point shot to thank for allowing them to survive so defences can't ignore them, look at Lonzo Ball stinking up the league right now. A modern 10 can't be solely a distributor and a kicker at the very top level and be the best, they have to demand the attention of the defence on their own, Ford doesn't. He didn't against Ireland in who managed to put so much pressure on the guy outside him while not giving him much respect if and when he took the ball to the line because they knew he wasn't a threat and he was all but nullified. The wings could drop for his kicks and the pack could afford to be that bit slower because the opposition 10 wasn't going to make a linebreak, any of the other guys mentioned, or another Farrell to play with Farrell (left him out of the last post because I was talking about him as a 12) would need to be watched more and thus open up space for the rest of the team. Give Ford three inches, 6kg and another yard of pace and you probably have the perfect 10 but those fine margins mean he's not going to match up to other guys with these stats who are as good, or almost as good at traditional 10 play, against world class defences. Ultimately Ford is one of the players in this team who is brought up by those around him, Faz brings those around him up a level. (which brings Ford up a level and allows him to make other guys look better, its the result of a stupidly good system, don't think about it, appreciate it)
I've probably just wasted my most well thought out and most analytical post I'll write this year on a goddamn England thread so thanks for that... The two of ye are off my Christmas list. Feel free to disagree with me, but pls don't make me go big again because if I had dedicated this much typing to Consumer Law I'd be done my essay worth 30% by now!
