🔗 Share this article

Back in November 2024, English number 10 George Ford appeared disappointed on the Allianz Stadium turf.

The replacement was brought on off the sidelines to help England close out a memorable triumph against New Zealand, but instead was unable to score a decisive kick and drop-goal while his team 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.

He saw just 25 minutes of action in the recent Six Nations yet multiple strong showings, notably in the summer tour versus Argentine and American teams as Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were away on Lions tour commitments, put him firmly back among starting candidates.

At 32 years old did more than justify Steve Borthwick's faith in starting him versus New Zealand, plus the club standout achieved a best-player showing to help England to a breakthrough triumph versus the Kiwis in their own stadium ending a drought dating to 2012.

The crucial point occurred as Ford converted back-to-back drop-goals immediately preceding halftime.

It helped England recover from 12-0 down to trail 12-11 by halftime, before Borthwick's star-studded bench once more performed after halftime to help his side to a decisive 33-19 win.

"Credit must be given to the senior players within our side, especially George," the manager commented. "During that phase where he hit those drop-goals, he controlled the match absolutely brilliantly.

"Twelve months ago I thought George entered and performed exceptionally well [versus the All Blacks].

"A kick hit the post and he tried a pressured drop-kick, yet he performed excellently.

"He's an exceptional captain, a superb performer and an even better person. We are honored to include him on our team."

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

The All Blacks commenced strongly at Allianz Stadium, racing into a substantial early margin via touchdowns by two key players.

Subsequent to Ollie Lawrence's impressive score, the fly-half's successive three-pointers resulted in the home side entered the halftime break with psychological advantage.

"The challenging thing at those times occurs as the display indicates a twelve-point deficit, we are able to adhere to our strategy and our convictions the optimal approach to perform is," Ford stated.

"We fought our way back into contention and we knew if we started the final period strongly, as reserves joined, we found ourselves in an advantageous spot.

"Despite having a quarter-hour remaining, we found ourselves near our try line with a yellow card, so we had challenges there as well.

"In my opinion that represents Test rugby is - who can deal with those moments the best."

Each effort occurred within two minutes of each other as the fly-half who successfully converted three drop-goals in a successful match facing the Argentine team in the last global tournament, showed all his 104-cap experience.

Ford hit two drop-goals with Sale in a Prem game conducted in tough circumstances at Bath - it is a skill he is well-practised in.

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

"Borthwick represents an incredible coach that he is always advising me, and rightly so because three points is valuable during any phase of the game."

Ford directed his side brilliantly across the pitch the entire match, executing intelligent kicks - both in contestable situations and in finding space against the defensive line.

His signature 'spiral bomb' additionally troubled Beauden Barrett, who failed to regather.

After beginning the national team's triumph versus the Wallabies on 1 November, Ford passed on the starting role to Fin Smith against Fiji a week later.

However the greatest challenge in terms of difficulty was presented by the multiple World Cup winners, with Ford regaining his position.

The national side, now on a run of an unbeaten streak of ten, face Argentina on 23 November and it will be interesting to discover if Borthwick goes back with the alternative or maintains Ford.

Whatever choice occurs, Ford demonstrated ahead of the next tournament prior to global competition that there is plenty of play remaining for him.