Phenomenal Ford Crucial to Beating All Blacks

Back in November 2024, England fly-half Ford looked disheartened at Allianz Stadium.

The replacement was brought on off the sidelines to help the hosts secure a famous win facing the Kiwis, but instead missed a crucial penalty plus a drop-goal attempt while his team were beaten by a narrow margin.

In the wake of those pivotal failures, Ford had to work hard to earn another opportunity at delivering glory for England.

He played only 25 minutes during this year's Six Nations however a series of excellent displays, particularly on the warm-weather tour of Argentina and the United States when the Smith players had departed for Lions team responsibilities, put him firmly back among starting candidates.

The 32-year-old not only repaid the manager's confidence in starting him versus New Zealand, plus the club standout produced a man-of-the-match display to help England to a breakthrough triumph versus the Kiwis on home soil for the first time since 2012.

The decisive instant came when Ford successfully executed two drop-goals in succession just before the break.

This enabled the English recover from 12-0 down to trail 12-11 at the break, before Borthwick's star-studded bench once more performed during the final period to support England to a decisive 33-19 victory.

"Credit must be given to the senior players in our team, especially George," Borthwick told. "In that moment when he converted those crucial kicks, he directed play absolutely brilliantly.

"One year earlier I believed Ford entered and performed really well [facing the Kiwis].

"A attempt hit the upright and he tried a difficult drop-goal, yet he performed excellently.

"He's a tremendous guide, a brilliant player and an even better person. We are fortunate to feature him within our roster."

Drop-kicks 'consistently planned'

New Zealand started quickly in the stadium, building a twelve-point advantage via touchdowns by Fainga'anuku and Taylor.

Following Ollie Lawrence's powerful finish, Ford's consecutive three-pointers resulted in the home side returned to the changing rooms with psychological advantage.

"The tough part in those moments occurs as the display indicates twelve to zero, we can stick to our plan and our convictions the best way to play the game is," Ford said.

"We worked our way back into it and we understood if we started the second half well, with the bench coming on, we would be in a good position.

"Even with 15 minutes left, we found ourselves on our own line with a yellow card, so we had challenges there as well.

"In my opinion that represents Test rugby is - which team can handle with those moments superiorly."

The two attempts came within close succession as the fly-half who successfully converted three drop-goals during a victory facing the Argentine team at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, displayed his complete 104-cap experience.

Ford hit two drop-kicks representing Sale during a Premiership match occurring during difficult conditions versus Bath - this demonstrates a talent he has mastered thoroughly.

"The drop-kicks is always in the plan," Ford stated further.

"The coach is such an incredible coach that he consistently in my ear about it, and correctly so because three points prove important throughout the match of competition."

Ford marshalled his team superbly throughout the match the entire match, kicking smartly - both in contestable situations and in finding space in the opposition's territory.

His signature 'spiral bomb' also bamboozled Beauden Barrett, who mishandled the ball.

Following his start in the national team's triumph against Australia in early November, Ford relinquished the number 10 jersey to the younger Smith against Fiji the following week.

Yet the most significant examination in terms of difficulty occurred versus the three-time world champions, and Ford reclaimed his spot.

England, currently enjoying ten consecutive victories, meet Argentina this month and it will be interesting to determine if Borthwick goes back with the alternative or persists with Ford.

Regardless of the selection, Ford demonstrated two years away prior to global competition that significant amounts of play remaining in him.