Flood: Not guaranteed a shirt

Flood regained the England number 10 jersey during the summer Test series against South Africa but, as Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill reminded him, nothing is guaranteed at Welford Road.

Ford, a member of the England Saxons squad, spent his summer in the gym and the 19-year-old is now in a position to compete with Flood to be Leicester's first-choice fly-half.

Cockerill believes both men are good enough to be in the senior England squad - but only one can start for the Tigers.

"At Leicester in particular, nobody's spot is guaranteed," Cockerill said.

"We have seen in the past that guys have been left out of the side, when on paper you would have picked them.

"Toby reacts to it very well. He knows that he needs to play very well to be in the side because he wants to play for England.

"George Ford is younger but he is a very good player too. I am hoping he will kick on and be really good for us. Toby the same.

"Both need to play for us. We want to keep them both long term.

"Like we have with (tight-head props) Dan Cole and Martin Castrogiovanni. They are both playing Test matches, they are both playing for their club.

"They understand that not playing every week is beneficial. The difficulty is if they are both playing well.

"It is a great headache to have, two really good fly-halves."

The situation is both good and bad news for England coach Stuart Lancaster, who will be excited to hear that Ford has developed his physique and is in form after a summer of conditioning.

But Lancaster could have only one of his top four fly-halves - Freddie Burns of Gloucester - playing regularly in the pivotal position during the Premiership season.

Lancaster's back-up Test fly-half Owen Farrell is expected to spend most of the coming campaign in the centres for Saracens.

Outside of Lancaster's two elite squads, Danny Cipriani has returned to the Premiership with the stated ambition of regaining his place in the England set-up for the 2015 World Cup.

Cipriani will need to prove himself to Lancaster but, fitness permitting, he will have that stage at Sale Sharks while Bath's Tom Heathcote has to compete with Stephen Donald.

Last summer, Ford helped the England Under-20s to the final of the Junior World Championship and he was named the International Rugby Board's young player of the year for 2011.

After a debate between club and country, Ford did not tour with an England representative team in June and instead worked on bulking up to meet the rigorous demands of the Premiership.

"It was the right thing to do," Cockerill said.

"It is perfect. He is 88-89 kilos. When he came home from the Junior World Cup last summer he was 79 kilos.

"He is quicker and more powerful and more robust than he has been before.

"It was a sensible decision from both club and country because if George kicks on this year he will not have another off-season for a long time.

"England have two fly-halves in the senior squad. George and Freddie Burns are in the Saxons. If there is an injury you would imagine one of those guys will get roped into the first team."