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Back in November 2024, English number 10 George Ford looked disheartened at Allianz Stadium.

He was called upon from the bench to assist the home side complete a memorable triumph versus the All Blacks, however failed to convert a decisive kick plus a drop-goal attempt as England were beaten by two points.

In the wake of those pivotal failures, Ford needed to put in effort to get another shot at delivering glory to the English team.

His playing time was limited to 25 minutes throughout the Six Nations tournament yet multiple impressive performances, especially during the summer tour of Argentina and the United States while Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were absent for British and Irish Lions duty, reestablished him strongly as a starting option.

The 32-year-old fully validated the coach's trust through his selection versus New Zealand, but the Sale Sharks playmaker delivered a player-of-the-match performance to support England to a breakthrough triumph against the All Blacks at home for the first time since 2012.

The pivotal moment occurred as Ford successfully executed back-to-back drop-goals just before the break.

It helped England recover from 12-0 down to narrow the gap to 12-11 when the half ended, before Borthwick's star-studded bench again delivered in the second half to assist the team to a convincing 33-19 victory.

"Recognition should be offered to the veteran members within our side, notably George," the coach stated. "During that phase where he hit those drop-goals, he managed the game just incredibly.

"One year earlier I thought George substituted and competed really well [against New Zealand].

"A attempt hit the upright while he attempted a pressured drop-kick, yet he performed excellently.

"He's a tremendous guide, an outstanding athlete and an even better person. We are honored to feature him within our roster."

Drop-kicks 'consistently planned'

The Kiwis started quickly during the match, racing into a twelve-point advantage via touchdowns by Fainga'anuku and Taylor.

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

"The difficult aspect in those moments is, when the scoreboard says twelve to zero, we can stick to our strategy and our philosophy the optimal approach to compete is," Ford said.

"We fought our way back into contention and we knew should we begin the latter half effectively, with substitutes entering, we would be in a favorable situation.

"Although facing fifteen minutes to go, we were positioned on our own line with a yellow card, so we had challenges there as well.

"I believe this illustrates Test rugby is - who manages best during those situations superiorly."

Both kicks happened within two minutes of each other as Ford who nailed three drop-goals in a successful match against Argentina during the 2023 World Cup, demonstrated his full century of caps experience.

Ford hit two drop-goals with Sale in a Prem game conducted in tough circumstances against Bath - it is a skill he is well-practised in.

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

"The coach is such an outstanding manager that he consistently reminding me, and appropriately as three points is valuable during any phase of competition."

Ford guided England excellently around the field the complete contest, executing intelligent kicks - both in contestable situations and in finding space in the opposition's territory.

His signature 'spiral bomb' also bamboozled the New Zealand player, who failed to regather.

Following his start in the English victory over Australia during the autumn series, Ford handed over the starting role to the younger Smith against Fiji a week later.

Yet the most significant examination theoretically this season came against the multiple World Cup winners, with Ford regaining his spot.

The national side, currently enjoying 10 straight wins, face Argentina in late November and it will be interesting to determine if the manager opts to Fin Smith or continues with Ford.

Regardless of the selection, Ford established two years away prior to global competition that significant amounts of rugby left within him.