George Ford: England fly half adamant that 10-match winning streak will not be 'flash in the pan'

The triumph held great significance, as England finally ended a 13-year wait to beat New Zealand upon home soil. Steve Borthwick's men became only the ninth England team to defeat the All Blacks at Allianz Stadium, in what was the first overall win against the Kiwis since the 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-finals. Like that famous win in Japan, England responded to the pre-match Haka with a defiant 'V' formation, that once again would stand for 'Victory' following a brilliant 80-minute performance in Twickenham.

George Ford has been a pivotal figure in England's recent winning form, which the Sale Sharks man is eager to see continue. England's impressive run dates back to their victory over France in Round 2 of the 2025 Six Nations, with the hot-streak maintained throughout the Summer tour of the Americas and now rolled into the third straight week of the Autumn Series. Following November triumphs over Australia, Fiji and now the All Blacks, Ford is adamant that this purple patch is more than just a 'flash in the pan'.

"We spoke pre game about how the last time we beat New Zealand was 2012, which was a long time ago, isn't it? So suppose, if you look at it in that context, it's a big result, isn't it? But, it just genuinely felt in the week, that we knew playing New Zealand is a big game. They're a great team, but it felt like in the week, it was our next challenge. We just wanted to make sure that we get our preparation right and we attack it. We felt that if we did that, then we could have a good chance of getting the result.

"I think that's just where we are as a team in a minute. We don't want it to be a flash in the pan, it's just trying to constantly, week on week, improve. Whoever the opposition is, we want to try and do a job on them. It'd be the same with Argentina this week."

Ford was paramount to England's efforts with a stand-out contribution from the boot, as the former Leicester Tigers linchpin nailed back-to-back drop goals as the match approached half-time. This influx of points over the goalposts reduced New Zealand's seven-point deficit down to just a single point, as momentum swung towards the home side when England and the All Blacks departed for the break.

A stand-out 50-22 kick marched England down-field mid-way through the second half, with Ford's stunning territory making strike laying the foundations for the subsequent try from Fraser Dingwall following the inch-perfect line-out strike move. Ford capped off his night with a well-struck penalty as the clock ticked down, to take the match out beyond the All Blacks' reach.

Plenty has been made of Ford's 'heroics' throughout England's Autumnal triumph, with Ford humbly playing down the accolade to him simply 'doing his job' when the moment arrived.

"Well, we're just doing our job. To put it simply, there's a variety of ways of scoring points in the game. Drop goal is one of them, whether that's trying to close the [points] gap, like we did today a little bit, or whether that's to pull ahead a bit more, it's an option.

"The 50-22 is massive in the game these days. It changes momentum. It gives you an opportunity to score points. Things like goal kicking, tactical kicking, it's a massive part of the game. The reason we do it is to try and score points. If you kick your 50-22, then you score the first try, everyone remembers the try, and it was a brilliantly executed try, but there's a process of getting there. Our [fly halves] job is the process of getting there, our job is to make sure we get as many opportunities to do that."

"I remember back to the 2023 Rugby World Cup, where we [Ford and Borthwick] sat down and had a chat about how big they [drop goals] are at World Cups. But, I think it's just how big they are in Test rugby these days as well. It's the way of scoring three points and re-setting and going again, or closing the scoreboard up today and nudging yourself head, whatever it might be."

Whilst Ford is heralded amongst the England coaches and players alike as a game-driving leader, the Sale man was quick to praise his own captain after a stirring pre-match message. Maro Itoje readied his men with an other-worldly pre-match team-talk, that whilst the exact transcript is yet to be revealed, revolves around the message of playing with the dream of your 14-year-old self. Ford expressed how the team-talk lit a fire underneath the England team in a classy act of captaincy from the established Saracens star.

"He definitely hit the right tone today, Maro. Because, you know, the reason why we love playing for England and love winning for England, is obviously when our friends and family are in the crowd, but it is genuinely like, there's nothing better than when you're getting the people on their feet here at Twickenham. You see all the kids, and you're inspiring the kids to be proud of the England team and hopefully aspire to go on to do that in the future. That's basically what Maro was saying. It was quite powerful today that."