'Phenomenal' Ford central to beating All Blacks

George Ford was picked to start at fly-half against New Zealand ahead of Fin Smith and Marcus Smith

In November 2024, England fly-half George Ford cut a dejected figure on the Allianz Stadium turf.

Ford had been summoned from the bench to help the hosts close out a famous win against New Zealand, but instead missed a late penalty and drop-goal as his side were beaten by two points.

Following those costly misses, Ford had to work hard to get another shot at delivering glory for England.

He played only 25 minutes during this year's Six Nations but a string of impressive performances, particularly on the summer tour of Argentina and the United States while Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were away on British and Irish Lions duty, put him firmly back in the starting mix.

The 32-year-old not only repaid Steve Borthwick's faith in starting him against the All Blacks, but the Sale Sharks playmaker delivered a player-of-the-match performance to help the hosts to a first win over New Zealand on home soil since 2012.

The pivotal moment in the game came when Ford nailed back-to-back drop-goals right before half-time.

It helped England recover from 12-0 down to trail 12-11 at the break, before Borthwick's star-studded bench again delivered in the second half to help his side to a comfortable 33-19 win.

"You have to give credit to the senior players in our team, especially George," Borthwick told BBC Sport. "That period where he hit those drop-goals, he managed the game just incredibly.

"Twelve months ago I thought George came on and played really well [against New Zealand].

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

"He is a phenomenal leader, a brilliant player and an even better person. We are privileged to have him in our squad."

Drop-goals 'always in the plan'

In 2024, Ford's misses with the boot proved costly as England lost to New Zealand - but it was a different story on Saturday

The All Blacks started quickly at Allianz Stadium, racing into a 12-point lead with tries by Leicester Fainga'anuku and Codie Taylor.

Following Ollie Lawrence's powerful finish, Ford's back-to-back drop-goals meant the hosts bounced into the changing rooms with the momentum.

"The challenging thing in those moments is, when the scoreboard says 12-0, we can stick to our guns and what we believe the best way to play the game is," Ford said.

"We got ourselves back into it and we knew if we started the second half well, with the bench coming on, we were in a good position.

"Even with 15 minutes left, we ended up on our own line with a yellow card, so we had challenges there as well.

"I think that's what Test rugby is - who can deal with those moments the best."

Both kicks came within two minutes of each other as the fly-half, who nailed three drop-goals in a win against Argentina at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, showed all his 104-cap experience.

Ford hit two drop-goals for Sale in a Prem game played in difficult conditions at Bath - it is a skill he is well-practised in.

"It [the drop-goals] is always in the plan," Ford added.

"Steve is such an incredible coach that he is always in my ear about it, and rightly so because three points is valuable at any stage of the game."

Ford marshalled his side brilliantly around the field all game, kicking smartly - both to compete and in finding space behind the visitors' backfield.

His signature 'spiral bomb' also bamboozled Beauden Barrett, who failed to regather.

Having started England's win over Australia on 1 November, Ford handed over the number 10 jersey to Fin Smith for the Fiji victory a week later.

But the biggest test on paper this autumn came against the three-time world champions, with Ford regaining his spot.

England, now on a run of 10 straight wins, face Argentina on 23 November and it will be interesting to discover if Borthwick goes back to Fin Smith or continues with Ford.

Whichever decision is made, Ford proved two years away from a World Cup that there is plenty of rugby left in him.

England 'on nice trajectory' with 2027 World Cup on horizon

Prior to Saturday's victory, England's most recent success against the All Blacks had been in the 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-final.

New Zealand won three of the subsequent four meetings, with the other ending in a draw.

Asked on the BBC's Rugby Union Weekly podcast if he thought England are in as good a place as they have been since that World Cup in Japan, former England scrum-half Matt Dawson said: "I personally think they're in better shape than that.

"Going into that World Cup, we weren't absolutely saying: 'England are going to be in the final here'."

The 2003 World Cup winner added: "At some stage, I've no doubt the conversation will be about whether England are peaking too early, but I think it's on a really nice trajectory.

"They need a squad of 50, they need loads of pressure on places and performance over the next 18 months, so that it is the toughest decision of Steve Borthwick's life for every position in that squad going into the [2027] World Cup in Australia.

"There are probably 20 of the squad you could pick from here to say: 'I want them in my World Cup squad'."