In 1990 he was knocked unconscious when blindsided by the young Argentine front row forward Federico Mendez, which saw Mendez sent off. Mendez later claimed it was a case of mistaken identity, and that he had meant to hit Jeff Probyn, because he had "stamped on my goolies".[2] Ackford was part of the England side that won the Five Nations Grand Slam in 1991. He retired from international rugby after the 1991 World Cup, won by Australia, becoming a journalist and writing for the Sunday Telegraph.