Exceptional George Ford Pivotal to Beating New Zealand

Back in November 2024, England fly-half Ford looked disheartened on the Allianz Stadium turf.

The replacement was brought on from the bench to help the hosts secure a memorable triumph against New Zealand, but instead failed to convert a late penalty and drop-goal as his side were beaten by two points.

Following those costly misses, the player was required to strive to get another shot to achieve success for England.

He played only 25 minutes in the recent Six Nations but a string of impressive performances, notably in the warm-weather tour of Argentina and the United States as 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 the coach's trust in starting him facing the Kiwis, but the Sale Sharks playmaker produced a man-of-the-match display to support the hosts to a first win versus the Kiwis on home soil for the first time since 2012.

The decisive instant occurred as Ford successfully executed two drop-goals in succession immediately preceding halftime.

This enabled the English recover from 12-0 down to narrow the gap to 12-11 by halftime, ahead of the manager's skilled reserves repeatedly excelled during the final period to help his side to a convincing 33-19 win.

"You have to give credit to the senior players in our team, particularly Ford," the manager commented. "That period where he hit those drop-kicks, he managed the game remarkably well.

"Twelve months ago I believed Ford substituted and competed exceptionally well [versus the All Blacks].

"A attempt hit the upright while he attempted a pressured drop-kick, yet he performed excellently.

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

Drop-kicks 'consistently planned'

The Kiwis commenced strongly during the match, building a substantial early margin with tries by 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 the momentum.

"The difficult aspect at those times is, when the scoreboard says twelve to zero, we can stick to our guns and our convictions the superior method to perform is," Ford said.

"We got ourselves back into it and we recognized were we to commence the final period strongly, with substitutes entering, we would be in an advantageous spot.

"Although facing 15 minutes left, we ended up defending our goal line with a yellow card, so we had challenges during that phase also.

"I believe this illustrates international rugby involves - who can deal during those situations most effectively."

The two attempts occurred within two minutes of each other as the fly-half who nailed three drop-kicks during a victory facing the Argentine team in the last global tournament, demonstrated his full century of caps experience.

Ford successfully executed two drop-goals representing Sale during a Premiership match played in challenging weather at Bath - this represents an ability he has extensively practiced.

"It [the drop-goals] is always in the plan," Ford stated further.

"Borthwick represents an incredible coach since he continually advising me, and appropriately since three points are crucial during any phase of competition."

Ford directed his side brilliantly across the pitch all game, executing intelligent kicks - both in contestable situations and locating gaps in the opposition's territory.

His signature 'spiral bomb' also bamboozled the New Zealand player, who couldn't collect.

After beginning the English victory against Australia during the autumn series, Ford handed over the number 10 jersey to the younger Smith against Fiji the following week.

Yet the most significant examination in terms of difficulty came against the experienced New Zealand team, and Ford reclaimed his starting role.

The national side, currently enjoying an unbeaten streak of ten, play against Argentina on 23 November and curiosity remains to determine if the manager opts for the younger Smith or maintains Ford.

Whichever decision is made, Ford proved ahead of the next tournament from a World Cup that there is plenty of play remaining for him.