🔗 Share this article

Back in November 2024, England fly-half George Ford cut a dejected figure during the match.

He was called upon off the sidelines to support England secure a memorable triumph versus the All Blacks, however was unable to score a crucial penalty and drop-goal as England fell short by a narrow margin.

In the wake of those pivotal failures, Ford needed to put in effort to earn another opportunity at delivering glory to the English team.

His playing time was limited to 25 minutes throughout the Six Nations tournament but a string of strong showings, notably in the summer tour against Argentina and the USA as Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were absent for Lions team responsibilities, reestablished him strongly among starting candidates.

At 32 years old fully validated the coach's trust through his selection versus New Zealand, plus the club standout produced a man-of-the-match display to help England to a first win against the All Blacks in their own stadium for the first time since 2012.

The decisive instant occurred as Ford converted two drop-goals in succession just before the break.

This assisted England bounce back from being down 12-0 to trail 12-11 when the half ended, ahead of the manager's skilled reserves again delivered in the second half to help his side to a comfortable 33-19 victory.

"You have to give credit to the veteran members within our side, particularly Ford," Borthwick told. "During that phase as he scored those drop-kicks, he controlled the match absolutely brilliantly.

"One year earlier In my view George came on and played very effectively [versus the All Blacks].

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

"He's an exceptional captain, an outstanding athlete and an even finer individual. We are privileged to feature him in our squad."

Drop-goals 'always in the plan'

New Zealand started quickly in the stadium, racing into a twelve-point advantage through scores from Leicester Fainga'anuku and Codie Taylor.

Subsequent to Ollie Lawrence's impressive score, Ford's consecutive drop-goals resulted in the home side entered the changing rooms with psychological advantage.

"The tough part during those periods occurs as the display indicates a twelve-point deficit, we are able to adhere to our strategy and our convictions the optimal approach to play the game is," Ford stated.

"We got ourselves back into contention and we understood were we to commence the second half well, as reserves joined, we found ourselves in a favorable situation.

"Even with fifteen minutes to go, we found ourselves on our own line following a card, so we had challenges during that phase also.

"I believe this illustrates elite competition requires - who manages best with those moments most effectively."

The two attempts occurred within two minutes of each other as the fly-half who executed three drop-goals in a win against Argentina at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, demonstrated his full 104-cap experience.

Ford successfully executed two three-pointers representing Sale in a league contest conducted in tough circumstances at Bath - this demonstrates a talent he is well-practised in.

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

"Steve is such an outstanding manager since he continually reminding me, and rightly so as three points is valuable throughout the match of competition."

Ford marshalled England excellently throughout the match all game, executing intelligent kicks - for both attacking and defensive purposes and identifying openings behind the visitors' backfield.

His trademark tactical bomb additionally troubled the opposing fullback, who mishandled the ball.

Following his start in the national team's triumph over Australia in early November, Ford passed on the fly-half position to his replacement during the Fiji match the following week.

But the biggest test on paper this autumn came against the experienced New Zealand team, and Ford reclaimed his position.

The national side, presently maintaining 10 straight wins, meet Argentina on 23 November creating intrigue to determine whether the coach returns to Fin Smith or continues with Ford.

Whatever choice occurs, Ford demonstrated ahead of the next tournament before the World Cup that significant amounts of play remaining in him.