Outstanding Ford Central to Beating the Kiwis

Back in November 2024, national team playmaker Ford appeared disappointed at Allianz Stadium.

Ford had been summoned from the bench to support England complete an historic victory versus the All Blacks, yet failed to convert a late penalty plus a drop-goal attempt while his team were beaten by a narrow margin.

After those expensive errors, Ford needed to put in effort to earn another opportunity to bring victory for the national side.

He played only 25 minutes in the recent Six Nations but a string of strong showings, particularly on the warm-weather tour of Argentina and the United States while Fin Smith and Marcus Smith had departed for British and Irish Lions duty, returned him solidly in the starting mix.

The veteran player not only repaid Steve Borthwick's faith by selecting him facing the Kiwis, and the Sharks star produced a man-of-the-match display to assist the hosts to their initial victory versus the Kiwis in their own stadium for the first time since 2012.

The decisive instant occurred as Ford nailed back-to-back drop-goals just before the break.

This assisted England recover from 12-0 down to trail 12-11 at the break, ahead of the manager's skilled reserves repeatedly excelled in the second half to help his side to a decisive 33-19 win.

"Recognition should be offered to the veteran members in our team, notably George," the coach stated. "During that phase as he scored those crucial kicks, he managed the game just incredibly.

"Last year I thought George came on and played really well [against New Zealand].

"A attempt hit the upright and he had a difficult drop-goal, but he played really well.

"He is a phenomenal leader, an outstanding athlete and an even better person. We are privileged to include him on our team."

Drop-kicks 'consistently planned'

The All Blacks began rapidly in the stadium, building a substantial early margin with tries by Fainga'anuku and Taylor.

Following Ollie Lawrence's strong try, Ford's consecutive drop-kicks resulted in the home side returned to the locker room with psychological advantage.

"The difficult aspect in those moments is, when the scoreboard says twelve to zero, we must maintain to our plan and our philosophy the best way to compete is," Ford explained.

"We fought our way back into the game and we recognized if we started the latter half effectively, with the bench coming on, we found ourselves in a favorable situation.

"Although facing 15 minutes left, we were positioned on our own line with a yellow card, so we had challenges there as well.

"I think that's what elite competition requires - which team can handle in those circumstances most effectively."

Both kicks happened within a two-minute span as the fly-half who nailed three crucial kicks in a successful match against Argentina at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, showed all his 104-cap experience.

Ford hit two drop-goals representing Sale in a Prem game conducted in tough circumstances versus Bath - this demonstrates a talent he has mastered thoroughly.

"The drop-kicks form part of our strategy," Ford stated further.

"Steve is such an incredible coach that he is always reminding me, and rightly so as three points is valuable throughout the match of the game."

Ford guided England excellently throughout the match the entire match, making smart decisions - both to compete and identifying openings against the defensive line.

His characteristic 'spiral bomb' also bamboozled the opposing fullback, who failed to regather.

After beginning the English victory over Australia during the autumn series, Ford passed on the fly-half position to the younger Smith against Fiji seven days later.

But the biggest test theoretically this season was presented by the multiple World Cup winners, so Ford returned to his starting role.

The national side, presently maintaining 10 straight wins, meet Argentina this month and it will be interesting to discover if Borthwick goes back to Fin Smith or continues with Ford.

Regardless of the selection, Ford established ahead of the next tournament from a World Cup that significant amounts of rugby left for him.