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Back in November 2024, England fly-half George Ford appeared disappointed during the match.

He was called upon from the bench to support the home side complete a memorable triumph against New Zealand, yet was unable to score a crucial penalty along with a drop-kick while his team were beaten by two points.

In the wake of those pivotal failures, Ford needed to put in effort to secure another chance to achieve success for England.

He played only 25 minutes in the recent Six Nations but a string of impressive performances, especially during the summer tour of Argentina and the United States as Fin Smith and Marcus Smith had departed for Lions team responsibilities, put him firmly back among starting candidates.

The 32-year-old did more than justify the coach's trust in starting him against the All Blacks, and the Sharks star delivered a player-of-the-match performance to assist England to their initial victory against the All Blacks on home soil for the first time since 2012.

The crucial point came when Ford converted two drop-goals in succession right before half-time.

This enabled the English overcome a 12-0 deficit to narrow the gap to 12-11 by halftime, before Borthwick's star-studded bench once more performed in the second half to support England to a convincing 33-19 triumph.

"Credit must be given to the experienced players in our team, notably George," the coach stated. "In that moment where he hit those crucial kicks, he managed the game absolutely brilliantly.

"One year earlier I believed Ford entered and performed exceptionally well [against New Zealand].

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

"He's an exceptional captain, a brilliant player and an even finer individual. We are fortunate to feature him within our roster."

Drop-kicks 'consistently planned'

The Kiwis commenced strongly at Allianz Stadium, surging to a twelve-point advantage with tries by two key players.

Subsequent to Ollie Lawrence's strong try, Ford's consecutive drop-goals meant the hosts bounced into the locker room with renewed energy.

"The difficult aspect at those times occurs as the display indicates twelve to zero, we must maintain to our guns and our convictions the superior method to play the game is," Ford stated.

"We got ourselves back into it and we recognized should we begin the second half well, with substitutes entering, we found ourselves in a favorable situation.

"Even with a quarter-hour remaining, we ended up near our try line following a card, meaning we faced difficulties during that phase also.

"I think that's what Test rugby is - who can deal in those circumstances superiorly."

Both kicks came within a two-minute span as the fly-half who executed three drop-kicks during a victory facing the Argentine team at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, showed all his century of caps experience.

Ford hit two three-pointers with Sale in a league contest played in tough circumstances at Bath - this demonstrates a talent he has mastered thoroughly.

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

"The coach is such an outstanding manager that he is always reminding me, and rightly so since three points prove important during any phase of play."

Ford marshalled his side brilliantly around the field the complete contest, kicking smartly - for both attacking and defensive purposes and locating gaps against the defensive line.

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

After beginning the national team's triumph versus the Wallabies in early November, Ford passed on the number 10 jersey to the younger Smith during the Fiji match seven days later.

However the greatest challenge in terms of difficulty came against the three-time world champions, with Ford regaining his starting role.

The national side, presently maintaining ten consecutive victories, face Argentina this month creating intrigue to determine whether the coach returns to Fin Smith or maintains Ford.

Whatever choice occurs, Ford established ahead of the next tournament prior to global competition that ample opportunity of rugby left in him.