🔗 Share this article

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

He was called upon as a substitute to support the home side close out an historic victory versus the All Blacks, yet was unable to score a late penalty and drop-goal as England fell short by a narrow margin.

After those expensive errors, Ford needed to put in effort to secure another chance to achieve success for England.

He played only 25 minutes throughout the Six Nations tournament yet multiple strong showings, especially during the summer matches versus Argentine and American teams when the Smith players were absent for Lions team responsibilities, reestablished him strongly among starting candidates.

The 32-year-old not only repaid the coach's trust through his selection versus New Zealand, but the Sale Sharks playmaker achieved a best-player showing to assist the hosts to a breakthrough triumph versus the Kiwis on home soil since 2012.

The pivotal moment came when Ford converted consecutive drop-kicks immediately preceding halftime.

This enabled the English overcome a 12-0 deficit to trail 12-11 by halftime, before Borthwick's star-studded bench again delivered after halftime to help his side to a comfortable 33-19 triumph.

"You have to give credit to the experienced players on our squad, notably George," Borthwick told. "That period when he converted those drop-goals, he directed play remarkably well.

"Twelve months ago In my view George entered and performed very effectively [facing the Kiwis].

"One kick struck the post and he had a drop-goal under pressure, however his play was outstanding.

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

Drop-goals 'always in the plan'

New Zealand commenced strongly at Allianz Stadium, racing into a substantial early margin through scores from two key players.

Following Ollie Lawrence's impressive score, Ford's back-to-back drop-kicks meant the hosts entered the locker room with the momentum.

"The challenging thing in those moments occurs as the display indicates 12-0, we must maintain to our strategy and our philosophy the optimal approach to perform is," Ford explained.

"We got ourselves back into the game and we understood should we begin the latter half effectively, with substitutes entering, we found ourselves in an advantageous spot.

"Although facing fifteen minutes to go, we ended up on our own line with a yellow card, meaning we faced difficulties during that phase also.

"I believe this illustrates Test rugby is - which team can handle with those moments superiorly."

Both kicks happened within close succession while the number 10 who executed three drop-goals in a successful match against Argentina during the 2023 World Cup, demonstrated his full 104-cap experience.

Ford converted two drop-goals representing Sale in a league contest conducted in tough circumstances versus Bath - this represents an ability he has extensively practiced.

"The drop-kicks are consistently planned," Ford continued.

"Borthwick represents an outstanding manager that he consistently advising me, and correctly so because three points is valuable throughout the match of the game."

Ford guided his side brilliantly around the field the entire match, making smart decisions - both in contestable situations and in finding space behind the visitors' backfield.

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

After beginning the national team's triumph versus the Wallabies in early November, Ford passed on the number 10 jersey to his replacement during the Fiji match a week later.

But the biggest test in terms of difficulty was presented by the multiple World Cup winners, with Ford regaining his position.

The English team, presently maintaining 10 straight wins, play against Argentina on 23 November and it will be interesting to learn whether the coach returns to Fin Smith or maintains Ford.

Regardless of the selection, Ford established ahead of the next tournament before the World Cup that there is plenty of career ahead for him.