Exceptional George Ford Central to Beating All Blacks

Back in November 2024, national team playmaker Ford looked disheartened on the Allianz Stadium turf.

He was called upon as a substitute to assist England secure a memorable triumph facing the Kiwis, however was unable to score a late penalty along with a drop-kick as his side lost by a narrow margin.

After those expensive errors, Ford had to work hard to earn another opportunity to bring victory to the English team.

His playing time was limited to 25 minutes during this year's Six Nations but a string of strong showings, especially during the warm-weather tour against Argentina and the USA when the Smith players had departed for Lions tour commitments, reestablished him strongly among starting candidates.

The veteran player did more than justify the manager's confidence by selecting him facing the Kiwis, but the Sale Sharks playmaker produced a man-of-the-match display to support England to a breakthrough triumph over New Zealand at home for the first time since 2012.

The decisive instant in the game Ford nailed back-to-back drop-goals immediately preceding halftime.

This enabled the English overcome a 12-0 deficit to reduce the margin to 12-11 at the break, before Borthwick's star-studded bench once more performed in the second half to help his side to a comfortable 33-19 victory.

"Credit must be given to the experienced players in our team, notably George," Borthwick told. "In that moment as he scored those crucial kicks, he managed the game remarkably well.

"Last year In my view George entered and performed exceptionally well [versus the All Blacks].

"One kick struck the post and he tried a difficult drop-goal, yet he performed excellently.

"He is a phenomenal leader, a brilliant player plus a better human being. We are privileged to have him in our squad."

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

The All Blacks began rapidly at Allianz Stadium, surging to a 12-point lead through scores from two key players.

Following Ollie Lawrence's impressive score, Ford's back-to-back three-pointers meant the hosts bounced into the halftime break with renewed energy.

"The challenging thing in those moments comes when the board shows 12-0, we are able to adhere to our guns and what we believe the superior method to compete is," Ford stated.

"We got ourselves back into it and we understood should we begin the final period strongly, with the bench coming on, we would be in a favorable situation.

"Although facing fifteen minutes to go, we ended up defending our goal line following a card, so we had challenges during that phase also.

"I believe this illustrates Test rugby is - who can deal with those moments superiorly."

Both kicks came within two minutes of each other while the number 10 who successfully converted three drop-goals in a win versus Argentina during the 2023 World Cup, displayed his complete 104-cap experience.

Ford converted two drop-goals for Sale in a league contest occurring during challenging weather versus Bath - this represents an ability he has extensively practiced.

"It [the drop-goals] form part of our strategy," Ford stated further.

"Steve is such an incredible coach that he consistently in my ear about it, and correctly so as three points is valuable during any phase of competition."

Ford guided his side brilliantly across the pitch the complete contest, making smart decisions - for both attacking and defensive purposes and locating gaps behind the visitors' backfield.

His trademark 'spiral bomb' additionally troubled Beauden Barrett, who couldn't collect.

Following his start in the English victory over Australia in early November, Ford relinquished the fly-half position to his replacement against Fiji seven days later.

Yet the most significant examination on paper this autumn was presented by the multiple World Cup winners, with Ford regaining his starting role.

The national side, currently enjoying an unbeaten streak of ten, face Argentina this month and curiosity remains to discover whether the coach returns with the alternative or continues with Ford.

Whatever choice occurs, Ford established two years away from a World Cup that significant amounts of play remaining for him.