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During November 2024, England fly-half George Ford looked disheartened during the match.

He was called upon as a substitute to assist the hosts close out a famous win facing the Kiwis, but instead was unable to score a decisive kick plus a drop-goal attempt while his team fell short by a narrow margin.

After those expensive errors, Ford needed to put in effort to secure another chance at delivering glory for England.

His playing time was limited to 25 minutes in the recent Six Nations but a string of impressive performances, notably in the warm-weather tour of Argentina and the United States as Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were away on Lions team responsibilities, reestablished him strongly in the starting mix.

At 32 years old fully validated Steve Borthwick's faith by selecting him versus New Zealand, but the Sale Sharks playmaker produced a man-of-the-match display to assist the home team to a breakthrough triumph against the All Blacks at home ending a drought dating to 2012.

The crucial point came when Ford successfully executed consecutive drop-kicks immediately preceding halftime.

It helped England recover from 12-0 down to trail 12-11 at the break, prior to the coach's talented substitutes again delivered in the second half to help his side to a convincing 33-19 victory.

"You have to give credit to the veteran members within our side, particularly Ford," the manager commented. "During that phase where he hit those drop-goals, he directed play remarkably well.

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

"One kick struck the post and he had a difficult drop-goal, yet he performed excellently.

"He is a phenomenal leader, an outstanding athlete and an even better person. We are honored to have him on our team."

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

The All Blacks commenced strongly during the match, surging to a substantial early margin with tries by Leicester Fainga'anuku and Codie Taylor.

Subsequent to Ollie Lawrence's strong try, the fly-half's successive drop-goals meant the hosts entered the changing rooms with psychological advantage.

"The tough part at those times is, when the scoreboard says 12-0, we are able to adhere to our plan and our philosophy the optimal approach to compete is," Ford said.

"We got ourselves back into contention and we understood if we started the latter half effectively, with the bench coming on, we were in a favorable situation.

"Although facing 15 minutes left, we ended up near our try line after a penalty, thus we encountered obstacles during that phase also.

"I think that's what elite competition requires - who can deal in those circumstances the best."

Each effort happened within two minutes of each other while the number 10 who successfully converted three crucial kicks in a successful match facing the Argentine team in the last global tournament, demonstrated his full 104-cap experience.

Ford successfully executed two drop-kicks for Sale in a Prem game conducted in challenging weather against Bath - this demonstrates a talent he is well-practised in.

"The drop-kicks form part of our strategy," Ford continued.

"Steve is such an outstanding manager that he consistently reminding me, and rightly so as three points prove important at any stage of the game."

Ford directed his team superbly throughout the match the complete contest, making smart decisions - for both attacking and defensive purposes and identifying openings behind the visitors' backfield.

His characteristic high spiral kick additionally troubled Beauden Barrett, who mishandled the ball.

After beginning England's win against Australia in early November, Ford passed on the fly-half position to Fin Smith against Fiji a week later.

Yet the most significant examination theoretically this season came against the multiple World Cup winners, so Ford returned to his starting role.

England, now on a run of 10 straight wins, play against Argentina on 23 November and curiosity remains to learn if the manager opts for the younger Smith or maintains Ford.

Whichever decision is made, Ford proved two years away from a World Cup that significant amounts of career ahead for him.