Ford wants to celebrate new deal with Shield win

Toulouse pivot Johnathan Ford is hoping to celebrate his new deal at the club by leading them to glory in this weekend’s Championship Shield final against Sheffield.

Ford, 28, has become an integral part of the French side since returning at the beginning of 2016, winning the League 1 Player of the Year award.

An injury suffered playing for Cook Islands on international duty has hampered his playing time in 2017, but he will captain them at home on Saturday.

He said: “I just love the club, the team and the people I work with. I see the club grow since I arrived and I want to participate in the development of Toulouse.

“Sheffield are a strong team. They deserve to be there. We have to respect them but we must not focus on them, we must stay focused on ourselves, on our performance and implementing our system of play in the best way possible.

“We know we are capable of very good things and that’s why we are here today.”

Saturday’s game kicks off at 3.30pm at the Stade Ernest-Argeles in Blagnac.