Following a 12-5 win for England U20 women and the senior women’s 16-3 triumph earlier in the day, the Under-20 side secured a nine-point victory as Northampton Saints wing Jamie Elliott grabbed an early try and Ford kept the scoreboard ticking over.
Tigers flanker Matt Everard played his part in a big performance from the England forwards.
Ford said: “France were very physical and the wind and rain made for an interesting game. We’re happy to come out with the win – we got points at important times and the forwards put a huge shift in during the second half, it was a real team effort.
“Although France were only a converted try away from making things interesting, I felt we controlled the match fairly well. We’ve got the win that takes us to three from three and we can’t ask for much more than that.
“We’ve only conceded three tries so far in the competition and our defence is a real plus point.”
Ford is not 18 until March and is playing in his debut Under-20s season.
“It was nice to get the man-of-the-match award from Sky but I think the forwards were more deserving,” he added. “And I did have to give the champagne to my Mum because I’m not allowed to drink it yet!”
Coach Rob Hunter said: “France were tough, they were physical, but I think we rose to the challenge. We’re pleased to be in this position, three wins from three is exactly what we wanted and we’ve achieved it but there’s still an awfully long way to go.”
England U20s: 15 Ben Ransom (Saracens), 14 Andy Short (Worcester Warriors), 13 Elliot Daly (London Wasps), 12 Ryan Mills (Gloucester), 11 Jamie Elliott (Northampton Saints), 10 George Ford (Leicester Tigers), 9 Chris Cook (Bath); 1 Mako Vunipola (Bristol), 2 Mike Haywood (Northampton Saints), 3 Will Collier (Harlequins), 4 Kieran Low (London Irish), 5 Charlie Matthews (Harlequins), 6 Matt Kvesic (Worcester Warriors), 7 Matt Everard (Leicester Tigers), 8 Alex Gray (c) (Newcastle Falcons). Reps: 6 Rob Buchanan (Harlequins) for Haywood 52 mins, 17 Koree Britton (Gloucester), 18 Addison Lockley (Exeter Chiefs) for Everard 70 mins, 19 Ollie Stedman (Leeds Carnegie) for Will Collier 65 mins, 20 Jonah Holmes (London Wasps), 21 Christian Wade (London Wasps), 22 Charlie Walker (Harlequins)
