Six Nations 2014: Owen Farrell delighted to have his friend George Ford as his rival for the England No 10 shirt While Farrell, even at just 22, remains the pillar of experience with his 19 caps and 195 points, the 20-year-old Ford has exhibited a maturity of decision-making - most notably in the 27-27 draw with former club Leicester - to suggest he could yet reach beyond his assumed role as his friend's international understudy. As Bath lock Dave Attwood puts it: "If you looked at him in the street you would ID him for a packet of fags, but to hear him speak in a meeting and command everyone on the field, you would think he was a 35-year-old veteran." Farrell, who shares a similar precocity given that he kicked 63 points in five games in his maiden Six Nations two years ago, is wary of the threat. "George is included on the strength of how he has played this year - outstandingly well," he says. I don't think it is a question of pressure on each other, but simply two mates trying to help each other be the best they can be. This is a healthy rivalry. So far, so diplomatic. But Ford is developing at such a rate that his elevation to England's elite squad was heralded by Stuart Lancaster, the head coach, as "natural evolution," while Lewis Moody, who ended his Bath career just as the youngster's was beginning, has argued that his relatively diminutive stature (he is 5ft 10in and 13st 2lb, compared to Farrell's 6ft 2in and 14st 6lb) should be no barrier to a first England cap. To Farrell, Ford's apparently effortless control of the Bath back line - prompting assistant coach Toby Booth to describe him as "100 per cent ready" for Test rugby - comes as scant surprise. Together they formed part of an England Under-20 team who won the Grand Slam three years ago, but their potent dynamic originated much earlier. "Our paths crossed when I was still living in Wigan, as we were playing league against each other all the time," he reflects. Even when my dad first signed for Saracens and we moved down to Hertfordshire to a house in Harpenden, I found myself living across the road from George for six months. The paternal connection represents another striking link in their parallel lives. Where Farrell Snr, Andy, chose to forsake his garlanded career at Wigan for a fresh chapter in union at Saracens, Ford's father Mike, the Bath coach, made a similar cross-code leap by leaving his league job at Oldham for the defensive co-ordinator's job with Ireland. Their sons are bound by a common heritage, even if the young Farrell could be forgiven for feeling that Ford, who has since tracked him through every England age group, has become his shadow. "It is brilliant to meet up with him again as we have been friends for so long," he says. He is incredibly talented, but there is still a respect between us. While I was on tour with the British and Irish Lions in Australia he would be texting me frequently for updates. One solution to the bind of who to start at 10 could be to revive the partnership that thrived so conspicuously at under-20 level, where Ford was fly-half and Farrell played inside centre. But at that time, Farrell was an established 12 and he is none too effusive about the idea of being asked to resume his former duties. "I don't want to be an average centre, because I haven't been playing there enough," he explains. I feel that I have come a long way in terms of controlling the game at 10, and I need to keep going in that direction. I enjoy the role, gaining a better understanding of how my team-mates operate, making sure I am prepared for everything that comes at me. Lancaster's conservative disposition should ensure that Farrell, as the senior man, is preferred for this weekend's opener against France. His temperament at crucial moments continues to be formidable, even if his attacking instincts, as reflected in the rarity of his clean breaks or audacious passes, are widely deemed to be inferior to those of Ford. But he could scarcely be more wedded to his own craft, endlessly reviewing videos of his own past performances or those of All Black Dan Carter, his idol among fly-halves. You learn so much by studying this footage. Although Jonny Wilkinson was the dominant 10 when I was growing up, I paid most attention to Carter - the control, the calmness, the standards that he set in the game. He always looked as if he had the greatest time on his hands, always doing everything for a reason. There seems never to be any escape from rugby for Farrell, who still lives at home with his parents, meditating at length with his father about the strengths and deficiencies of England backs. One can only guess at the arched eyebrows of his mother Colleen, who has said she needs to leave the room whenever such discussions start. All-enveloping the game might be, but he would not have it any other way. It's our job but, when it comes down to it, our hobby as well. This is what we love to do. Often are the evenings when he will stop out late at Saracens" training ground, obliged to call his mum to let her know his whereabouts, just to refine his consummate kicking. "Preparation is the key to everything," he says. I learnt that with the Lions, that I had to have every detail on and off the field just right. It was a whole different level. Sometimes we too easily forget Farrell's youth, and the degree of pressure with which he is encumbered ahead of his third Six Nations. But with the memories of last season's shattering final-day defeat in Cardiff still raw, for all his insistence that England "have come a long way since then," he needs no reminders of the task ahead. Especially not with Ford, always his contemporary but now his fiercest competitor, seeking to wrest away his mantle as the wunderkind.