Exceptional Ford Crucial to Overcoming All Blacks
George Ford was selected to begin facing the Kiwis instead of Marcus Smith and Fin Smith.
- Posted recently
- 7 Comments
During November 2024, England fly-half George Ford appeared disappointed during the match.
The replacement was brought on from the bench to support England secure an historic victory against New Zealand, yet failed to convert a crucial penalty plus a drop-goal attempt as England were beaten in a close contest.
Following those costly misses, Ford had to work hard to secure another chance to bring victory for the national side.
He saw just 25 minutes of action throughout the Six Nations tournament yet multiple impressive performances, notably in the summer tour versus Argentine and American teams while Fin Smith and Marcus Smith had departed for British and Irish Lions duty, returned him solidly among starting candidates.
The 32-year-old fully validated Steve Borthwick's faith through his selection facing the Kiwis, and the Sharks star produced a man-of-the-match display to help the hosts to their initial victory versus the Kiwis on home soil ending a drought dating to 2012.
The crucial point in the game Ford nailed consecutive drop-kicks immediately preceding halftime.
This assisted England bounce back from being down 12-0 to trail 12-11 by halftime, before Borthwick's star-studded bench repeatedly excelled after halftime to assist the team to a decisive 33-19 triumph.
"You have to give credit to the experienced players in our team, especially George," the manager commented. "That period as he scored those crucial kicks, he controlled the match just incredibly.
"One year earlier I believed Ford substituted and competed exceptionally well [facing the Kiwis].
"A kick hit the post while he attempted a difficult drop-goal, yet he performed excellently.
"He's an exceptional captain, an outstanding athlete and an even better person. We are fortunate to have him within our roster."
- England defeat New Zealand in their tenth consecutive victory
- How Twickenham learned to embrace high kicks and the manager
- England recover to secure historic victory over All Blacks
Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'
During 2024, the player's errors in kicking came at a price as the team was defeated against the Kiwis - but it was a different story during the match.
New Zealand started quickly during the match, racing into a twelve-point advantage with tries by Fainga'anuku and Taylor.
After Lawrence's powerful finish, Ford's back-to-back drop-kicks ensured England entered the changing rooms with the momentum.
"The challenging thing at those times is, when the scoreboard says twelve to zero, we must maintain to our plan and what we believe the optimal approach to compete is," Ford stated.
"We worked our way back into contention and we knew were we to commence the latter half effectively, with substitutes entering, we found ourselves in an advantageous spot.
"Despite having 15 minutes left, we ended up defending our goal line with a yellow card, thus we encountered obstacles during that phase also.
"In my opinion that represents elite competition requires - who can deal with those moments the best."
The two attempts occurred within two minutes of each other as Ford who executed three drop-kicks in a win against Argentina during the 2023 World Cup, showed all his 104-cap experience.
Ford hit two drop-kicks with Sale in a Prem game conducted in challenging weather against Bath - it is a skill he has mastered thoroughly.
"These attempts is always in the plan," Ford added.
"Steve is such an outstanding manager that he is always advising me, and appropriately as three points prove important at any stage of competition."
Ford guided his side brilliantly across the pitch the complete contest, making smart decisions - for both attacking and defensive purposes and locating gaps behind the visitors' backfield.
His trademark tactical bomb also bamboozled the New Zealand player, who mishandled the ball.
After beginning England's win over Australia during the autumn series, Ford relinquished the starting role to his replacement for the Fiji victory seven days later.
However the greatest challenge theoretically this season occurred versus the experienced New Zealand team, so Ford returned to his starting role.
England, presently maintaining ten consecutive victories, play against Argentina on 23 November and it will be interesting to discover whether the coach returns with the alternative or maintains Ford.
Whichever decision is made, Ford demonstrated with two years remaining before the World Cup that ample opportunity of play remaining for him.
Associated subjects
- England Rugby Union
- The Sport
