Phenomenal Ford Crucial to Beating All Blacks

In November 2024, national team playmaker Ford cut a dejected figure during the match.

He was called upon off the sidelines to support England secure a memorable triumph against New Zealand, yet missed a late penalty and drop-goal while his team fell short by a narrow margin.

After those expensive errors, Ford had to work hard to secure another chance to achieve success for the national side.

His playing time was limited to 25 minutes in the recent Six Nations but a string of strong showings, particularly on the warm-weather tour against Argentina and the USA when the Smith players were absent for Lions team responsibilities, reestablished him strongly among starting candidates.

The veteran player fully validated Steve Borthwick's faith by selecting him against the All Blacks, plus the club standout achieved a best-player showing to assist the hosts to their initial victory over New Zealand on home soil for the first time since 2012.

The crucial point in the game Ford nailed two drop-goals in succession right before half-time.

It helped England bounce back from being down 12-0 to narrow the gap to 12-11 by halftime, before Borthwick's star-studded bench once more performed in the second half to support England to a convincing 33-19 triumph.

"You have to give credit to the experienced players in our team, notably George," the coach stated. "In that moment as he scored those drop-kicks, he directed play absolutely brilliantly.

"One year earlier In my view George entered and performed very effectively [facing the Kiwis].

"One kick struck the post while he attempted a difficult drop-goal, however his play was outstanding.

"He's a tremendous guide, a superb performer plus a better human being. We are privileged to include him on our team."

Drop-kicks 'consistently planned'

The Kiwis began rapidly during the match, building a substantial early margin through scores from Leicester Fainga'anuku and Codie Taylor.

After Lawrence's impressive score, Ford's consecutive drop-kicks resulted in the home side entered the halftime break with psychological advantage.

"The challenging thing during those periods occurs as the display indicates twelve to zero, we must maintain to our plan and our convictions the optimal approach to compete is," Ford said.

"We fought our way back into contention and we knew were we to commence the latter half effectively, with the bench coming on, we would be in a favorable situation.

"Although facing fifteen minutes to go, we ended up on our own line after a penalty, thus we encountered obstacles during that phase also.

"In my opinion that represents Test rugby is - which team can handle during those situations the best."

Each effort came within two minutes of each other as Ford who executed three drop-kicks during a victory versus Argentina during the 2023 World Cup, showed all his century of caps experience.

Ford successfully executed two drop-kicks representing Sale during a Premiership match occurring during challenging weather versus Bath - this demonstrates a talent he has mastered thoroughly.

"These attempts are consistently planned," Ford stated further.

"Borthwick represents a phenomenal leader that he consistently reminding me, and appropriately as three points is valuable throughout the match of play."

Ford marshalled his side brilliantly around the field the entire match, executing intelligent kicks - for both attacking and defensive purposes and identifying openings behind the visitors' backfield.

His trademark 'spiral bomb' also bamboozled Beauden Barrett, who couldn't collect.

Following his start in the English victory over Australia on 1 November, Ford handed over the starting role to Fin Smith for the Fiji victory the following week.

However the greatest challenge theoretically this season was presented by the multiple World Cup winners, so Ford returned to his spot.

The national side, now on a run of ten consecutive victories, play against Argentina this month and it will be interesting to determine if Borthwick goes back to Fin Smith or persists with Ford.

Regardless of the selection, Ford proved ahead of the next tournament from a World Cup that significant amounts of play remaining within him.