{"id":570124,"date":"2025-11-14T15:48:26","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T15:48:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/570124\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T15:48:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T15:48:26","slug":"george-ford-urges-england-to-seize-their-chance-against-new-zealand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/570124\/","title":{"rendered":"George Ford urges England to seize their chance against New Zealand"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"George\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

George Ford<\/a> insists Maro Itoje<\/a>\u2018s England<\/a> are determined to seize their place in the nation\u2019s rugby<\/a> history by ending the long wait for victory over New Zealand<\/a> at Allianz Stadium.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is 13 years and five Tests since the All Blacks<\/a> were last toppled at Twickenham<\/a> with that Manu Tuilagi<\/a>-inspired 38-21 rout still recalled with awe.<\/p>\n

England go into the 47th meeting between the rivals as marginal favourites with most bookmakers as a result of their nine-match winning run and the perception that New Zealand are vulnerable.<\/p>\n

And they will be stirred by a call to arms from veteran hooker Jamie George, demanding they deliver only the ninth victory over the All Blacks in their 120-year rivalry.<\/p>\n

For exclusive stories and all the detailed rugby news you need,\u00a0<\/strong>subscribe to The Rugby Paper<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0website, digital edition, or newspaper from as little as 14p a day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

WATCH THE RUGBY PAPER ROUNDUP HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Motivation<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a long time ago, isn\u2019t it? It makes me feel old!\u201d said playmaker Ford, who has edged Fin Smith for fly-half duties in the main event of the autumn<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s change that. There\u2019s only been eight ever wins. It\u2019s like, come on, let\u2019s have a ninth now. One hundred per cent.<\/p>\n

\u201cJamie George mentioned something to the team this week \u2013 the last time England beat New Zealand at Twickenham was 2012. And people still go on about 2012. Manu Tuilagi and all those\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cJamie then flipped it and said this is the opportunity we have in front of us. Why can\u2019t we \u2013 2025 \u2013 be the next team that they talk about? It\u2019s definitely part of my motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GeorgeGeorge Ford has urged England to seize their chance against New Zealand
(Andrew Matthews\/PA)<\/p>\n

Opportunity<\/p>\n

The message of rising to the occasion is echoed by Itoje, the England captain, who was a colossus in the last victory over the All Blacks in the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be the ninth English team to do it. And we are capable of doing it,\u201d Itoje said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the opportunity that is there for us. In life, you don\u2019t get many of these opportunities, so we want to go out there and take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

England and New Zealand clashed three times last year, with the All Blacks winning on each occasion, but only by a combined total of 10 points to illustrate the competitive nature of the contests.<\/p>\n

\"GeorgeGeorge Ford (left) and Jamie George (right) have been plotting New Zealand\u2019s downfall
(Mike Egerton\/PA)<\/p>\n

Conviction<\/p>\n

For Ford, it is essential that the hosts play with courage and conviction.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to go at a team like this in every area of the game. When we\u2019ve got the ball, we\u2019ve got to go at them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when they\u2019ve got the ball, we\u2019ve got to go at them. The kicking game, the set-piece, we\u2019ve got to go at them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the mentality you need because the moment you sit off and become a bit passive is the moment that they could potentially get on top.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to throw ourselves into the next thing because when you play like that, you get the crowd behind you, you inspire each other to keep going and you inspire the bench when they come on.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s how you\u2019re going to win Tests against the best teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> George Ford returns at fly-half for England to face New Zealand<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"George Ford insists Maro Itoje\u2018s England are determined to seize their place in the nation\u2019s rugby history by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[37482,30642,178968,748,178969,393,1123,20681,4884,180991,21856,704,4151,26349,28118,16,15,1514],"class_list":{"0":"post-570124","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-all-blacks","9":"tag-autumn","10":"tag-autumn-internationals","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-digital-edition","13":"tag-england","14":"tag-featured","15":"tag-george-ford","16":"tag-great-britain","17":"tag-manu-tuilagi","18":"tag-maro-itoje","19":"tag-new-zealand","20":"tag-rugby","21":"tag-steve-borthwick","22":"tag-twickenham","23":"tag-uk","24":"tag-united-kingdom","25":"tag-world-cup"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115548843288009537","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}