Phenomenal Ford Central to Overcoming the Kiwis

Back in November 2024, English number 10 Ford appeared disappointed at Allianz Stadium.

Ford had been summoned as a substitute to support England close out a famous win against New Zealand, but instead missed a late penalty and drop-goal while his team fell short by a narrow margin.

After those expensive errors, the player was required to strive to get another shot at delivering glory to the English team.

He saw just 25 minutes of action throughout the Six Nations tournament but a string of impressive performances, particularly on the summer tour versus Argentine and American teams as Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were away on British and Irish Lions duty, put him firmly back as a starting option.

At 32 years old fully validated the coach's trust by selecting him versus New Zealand, but the Sale Sharks playmaker produced a man-of-the-match display to help the hosts to their initial victory over New Zealand on home soil ending a drought dating to 2012.

The decisive instant in the game Ford converted two drop-goals in succession immediately preceding halftime.

This enabled the English overcome a 12-0 deficit to trail 12-11 at the break, ahead of the manager's skilled reserves once more performed after halftime to assist the team to a comfortable 33-19 triumph.

"You have to give credit to the experienced players in our team, particularly Ford," the coach stated. "That period as he scored those drop-goals, he controlled the match absolutely brilliantly.

"One year earlier I thought George substituted and competed really well [against New Zealand].

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

"He is a phenomenal leader, a brilliant player plus a better human being. We are fortunate to feature him within our roster."

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

New Zealand started quickly in the stadium, surging to a substantial early margin via touchdowns by Leicester Fainga'anuku and Codie Taylor.

After Lawrence's powerful finish, Ford's back-to-back three-pointers resulted in the home side bounced into the changing rooms with renewed energy.

"The challenging thing during those periods comes when the board shows twelve to zero, we are able to adhere to our guns and our convictions the optimal approach to play the game is," Ford said.

"We got ourselves back into the game and we knew should we begin the final period strongly, with the bench coming on, we found ourselves in a good position.

"Although facing a quarter-hour remaining, we ended up defending our goal line with a yellow card, thus we encountered obstacles during that phase also.

"I believe this illustrates Test rugby is - who can deal during those situations most effectively."

The two attempts occurred within two minutes of each other while the number 10 who successfully converted three drop-goals in a win against Argentina in the last global tournament, showed all his century of caps experience.

Ford successfully executed two three-pointers representing Sale in a Prem game played in difficult conditions versus Bath - this demonstrates a talent he is well-practised in.

"These attempts is always in the plan," Ford added.

"Borthwick represents an incredible coach since he continually reminding me, and appropriately since three points prove important at any stage of competition."

Ford directed his team superbly across the pitch the complete contest, executing intelligent kicks - both in contestable situations and identifying openings against the defensive line.

His signature 'spiral bomb' additionally troubled Beauden Barrett, who couldn't collect.

Following his start in the national team's triumph versus the Wallabies during the autumn series, Ford relinquished the number 10 jersey to his replacement for the Fiji victory a week later.

But the biggest test theoretically this season occurred versus the multiple World Cup winners, with Ford regaining his starting role.

The national side, now on a run of an unbeaten streak of ten, play against Argentina in late November creating intrigue to determine if the manager opts with the alternative or persists with Ford.

Whichever decision is made, Ford demonstrated ahead of the next tournament prior to global competition that there is plenty of career ahead for him.