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In November 2024, English number 10 George Ford cut a dejected figure at Allianz Stadium.

The replacement was brought on from the bench to support the home side complete a famous win versus the All Blacks, but instead failed to convert a late penalty plus a drop-goal attempt while his team lost by two points.

Following those costly misses, Ford had to work hard to secure another chance at delivering glory to the English team.

His playing time was limited to 25 minutes throughout the Six Nations tournament yet multiple impressive performances, notably in the summer matches versus Argentine and American teams when the Smith players had departed for British and Irish Lions duty, reestablished him strongly among starting candidates.

At 32 years old did more than justify the coach's trust through his selection against the All Blacks, and the Sharks star produced a man-of-the-match display to assist the hosts to a first win against the All Blacks in their own stadium for the first time since 2012.

The pivotal moment came when Ford converted consecutive drop-kicks immediately preceding halftime.

This enabled the English bounce back from being down 12-0 to trail 12-11 at the break, prior to the coach's talented substitutes once more performed in the second half to support England to a convincing 33-19 triumph.

"Credit must be given to the veteran members on our squad, especially George," Borthwick told. "During that phase where he hit those drop-goals, he managed the game just incredibly.

"Twelve months ago I believed Ford came on and played very effectively [versus the All Blacks].

"One kick struck the post and he tried a drop-goal under pressure, but he played really well.

"He's an exceptional captain, an outstanding athlete and an even finer individual. We are fortunate to have him on our team."

Drop-goals 'always in the plan'

New Zealand started quickly during the match, surging to a 12-point lead through scores from two key players.

Following Ollie Lawrence's powerful finish, Ford's back-to-back drop-kicks resulted in the home side bounced into the halftime break with psychological advantage.

"The challenging thing during those periods occurs as the display indicates twelve to zero, we can stick to our strategy and our convictions the optimal approach to compete is," Ford stated.

"We got ourselves back into the game and we recognized if we started the final period strongly, with substitutes entering, we found ourselves in a favorable situation.

"Despite having 15 minutes left, we were positioned defending our goal line after a penalty, so we had challenges during that phase also.

"I believe this illustrates Test rugby is - which team can handle during those situations most effectively."

Both kicks happened within a two-minute span as the fly-half who executed three crucial kicks in a win against Argentina in the last global tournament, showed all his century of caps experience.

Ford hit two drop-kicks with Sale during a Premiership match occurring during tough circumstances against Bath - it is a skill he has mastered thoroughly.

"The drop-kicks is always in the plan," Ford stated further.

"The coach is such a phenomenal leader since he continually in my ear about it, and rightly so as three points is valuable during any phase of the game."

Ford directed England excellently around the field the complete contest, kicking smartly - for both attacking and defensive purposes and locating gaps in the opposition's territory.

His characteristic high spiral kick further confused the New Zealand player, who failed to regather.

Following his start in the national team's triumph against Australia during the autumn series, Ford relinquished the fly-half position to the younger Smith for the Fiji victory the following week.

But the biggest test on paper this autumn occurred versus the three-time world champions, so Ford returned to his position.

The national side, currently enjoying an unbeaten streak of ten, meet Argentina in late November creating intrigue to discover whether the coach returns for the younger Smith or continues with Ford.

Whichever decision is made, Ford demonstrated with two years remaining before the World Cup that there is plenty of rugby left in him.