🔗 Share this article

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

Ford had been summoned as a substitute to help England close out an historic victory facing the Kiwis, yet was unable to score a crucial penalty and drop-goal as England lost in a close contest.

Following those costly misses, Ford had to work hard to earn another opportunity to achieve success to the English team.

He saw just 25 minutes of action during this year's Six Nations yet multiple strong showings, especially during the warm-weather tour versus Argentine and American teams when the Smith players were away on Lions tour commitments, reestablished him strongly as a starting option.

The 32-year-old did more than justify the coach's trust in starting him against the All Blacks, and the Sharks star delivered a player-of-the-match performance to help England to a breakthrough triumph versus the Kiwis on home soil ending a drought dating to 2012.

The decisive instant came when Ford successfully executed back-to-back drop-goals immediately preceding halftime.

This enabled the English recover from 12-0 down to reduce the margin to 12-11 by halftime, prior to the coach's talented substitutes once more performed after halftime to assist the team to a decisive 33-19 win.

"Credit must be given to the experienced players on our squad, notably George," the manager commented. "In that moment as he scored those drop-goals, he directed play remarkably well.

"Twelve months ago In my view George came on and played very effectively [facing the Kiwis].

"A kick hit the post and he tried a pressured drop-kick, but he played really well.

"He's an exceptional captain, an outstanding athlete plus a better human being. We are fortunate to include him within our roster."

Drop-goals 'always in the plan'

New Zealand commenced strongly at Allianz Stadium, racing into a substantial early margin via touchdowns by two key players.

Following Ollie Lawrence's powerful finish, Ford's consecutive three-pointers resulted in the home side entered the changing rooms with the momentum.

"The challenging thing at those times comes when the board shows a twelve-point deficit, we can stick to our plan and our philosophy the optimal approach to perform is," Ford explained.

"We worked our way back into it and we knew should we begin the latter half effectively, with the bench coming on, we found ourselves in an advantageous spot.

"Even with fifteen minutes to go, we ended up defending our goal line with a yellow card, meaning we faced difficulties during that phase also.

"I think that's what international rugby involves - who manages best during those situations superiorly."

Both kicks happened within a two-minute span as the fly-half who nailed three crucial kicks during a victory against Argentina at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, displayed his complete 104-cap experience.

Ford successfully executed two drop-kicks with Sale in a Prem game conducted in difficult conditions against Bath - this demonstrates a talent he is well-practised in.

"The drop-kicks are consistently planned," Ford stated further.

"Steve is such an outstanding manager that he consistently reminding me, and appropriately because three points are crucial during any phase of the game."

Ford marshalled his team superbly around the field the complete contest, making smart decisions - both in contestable situations and identifying openings behind the visitors' backfield.

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

Following his start in the English victory against Australia on 1 November, Ford relinquished the starting role to his replacement against Fiji the following week.

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

The English team, now on a run of ten consecutive victories, play against Argentina on 23 November creating intrigue to discover whether the coach returns for the younger Smith or persists with Ford.

Regardless of the selection, Ford established with two years remaining from a World Cup that significant amounts of career ahead in him.