George Ford has called on England to make sure their statement victory against the All Blacks is not a false dawn after Steve Borthwick’s side extended their winning run to 10 matches.
England have moved up to third in the world rankings after their impressive 33-19 win against New Zealand on Saturday and could go second next weekend should they defeat Argentina and Wales spring a surprise against the All Blacks.
In Borthwick’s tenure as head coach, England have managed narrow victories against Ireland and France but the commanding win against the All Blacks – a first at Twickenham since 2012 – goes down as their finest achievement under the head coach.
Under Jones, England defeated New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup semi-final in stunning style but a week later South Africa were comfortable 32-12 winners in the final. The 2012 victory gave rise to optimism at the end of Stuart Lancaster’s first year in charge but the bubble burst when England were thrashed 30-3 by Wales in Cardiff in the following Six Nations.
“We don’t want it to be a flash in the pan,” said Ford, who scored 13 points, including two crucial drop-goals after the All Blacks had taken a 12-0 lead, in a virtuoso man-of-the-match performance.
“We just wanted to make sure that we get our preparation right and we attack it. And we felt that if we did that, then we could have a good chance of getting the result. That’s just probably where we’re at as a team at the minute. I think the way we’re preparing, there’s a good feeling around the place.”
While England’s 2019 victory against the All Blacks was the high point of Jones’s tenure, Borthwick believes there is plenty of room for growth for his current side. “There’s a huge amount of growth,” he said.
“If the players continue to strive to develop, remain ambitious with their dreams and then continue to train at the level they do – as eager as they are to improve – then I think there’s a lot of growth. The guys just have utter belief now. If we go down on the scoreboard, I have utter belief in the senior guys that their team becomes composed, resilient and find a way through it.”
The Springboks remain the standard bearers but are not scheduled to play England at Twickenham this autumn.
“South Africa are No 1 in the world still, they’re a world-class team,” the hooker Jamie George said.
“We obviously always want to play them. I think we might be playing them in June potentially so that’s a long way away. We’ll focus on Argentina.”
