Phenomenal George Ford Central to Overcoming New Zealand

In November 2024, England fly-half Ford appeared disappointed on the Allianz Stadium turf.

Ford had been summoned from the bench to assist England complete an historic victory facing the Kiwis, however missed a late penalty along with a drop-kick while his team were beaten by two points.

In the wake of those pivotal failures, Ford needed to put in effort to secure another chance 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 summer tour versus Argentine and American teams when the Smith players were away on Lions team responsibilities, reestablished him strongly in the starting mix.

The 32-year-old fully validated Steve Borthwick's faith through his selection against the All Blacks, but the Sale Sharks playmaker produced a man-of-the-match display to assist England to their initial victory over New Zealand at home ending a drought dating to 2012.

The decisive instant occurred as Ford successfully executed consecutive drop-kicks just before the break.

This assisted England bounce back from being down 12-0 to trail 12-11 by halftime, ahead of the manager's skilled reserves repeatedly excelled during the final period to support England to a decisive 33-19 victory.

"Credit must be given to the senior players in our team, particularly Ford," Borthwick told. "During that phase when he converted those crucial kicks, he controlled the match absolutely brilliantly.

"Twelve months ago I believed Ford substituted and competed really well [against New Zealand].

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

"He's a tremendous guide, a superb performer and an even better person. We are honored to have him in our squad."

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

The All Blacks commenced strongly in the stadium, surging to a substantial early margin via touchdowns by Fainga'anuku and Taylor.

Following Ollie Lawrence's impressive score, Ford's back-to-back drop-goals meant the hosts entered the changing rooms with psychological advantage.

"The challenging thing at those times is, when the scoreboard says a twelve-point deficit, we must maintain to our guns and what we believe the superior method to perform is," Ford said.

"We worked our way back into the game 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 were positioned defending our goal line following a card, thus we encountered obstacles there as well.

"I believe this illustrates international rugby involves - who can deal in those circumstances the best."

The two attempts occurred within close succession as the fly-half who executed three drop-kicks in a win against Argentina at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, showed all his 104-cap experience.

Ford successfully executed two drop-goals for Sale in a league contest played in challenging weather versus Bath - this demonstrates a talent he has extensively practiced.

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

"Borthwick represents an outstanding manager since he continually in my ear about it, and appropriately since three points prove important during any phase of competition."

Ford marshalled his side brilliantly around the field all game, making smart decisions - both to compete and identifying openings in the opposition's territory.

His signature high spiral kick additionally troubled the New Zealand player, who failed to regather.

After beginning the English victory over Australia in early November, Ford relinquished the fly-half position to his replacement against Fiji a week later.

But the biggest test in terms of difficulty occurred versus the experienced New Zealand team, so Ford returned to his position.

England, currently enjoying an unbeaten streak of ten, face Argentina in late November creating intrigue to learn if the manager opts to Fin Smith or maintains Ford.

Whichever decision is made, Ford proved ahead of the next tournament prior to global competition that ample opportunity of play remaining within him.