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Back in November 2024, England fly-half George Ford looked disheartened on the Allianz Stadium turf.

The replacement was brought on from the bench to assist England secure an historic victory facing the Kiwis, however missed a late penalty along with a drop-kick while his team fell short by two points.

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

He saw just 25 minutes of action during this year's Six Nations however a series of excellent displays, notably in the warm-weather tour versus Argentine and American teams while Fin Smith and Marcus Smith had departed for Lions tour commitments, put him firmly back in the starting mix.

The 32-year-old did more than justify the coach's trust in starting him facing the Kiwis, but the Sale Sharks playmaker delivered a player-of-the-match performance to support England to a breakthrough triumph against the All Blacks in their own stadium ending a drought dating to 2012.

The pivotal moment came when Ford converted consecutive drop-kicks just before the break.

It helped England recover from 12-0 down to reduce the margin to 12-11 by halftime, ahead of the manager's skilled reserves again delivered in the second half to help his side to a decisive 33-19 victory.

"Recognition should be offered to the experienced players within our side, notably George," the manager commented. "That period where he hit those drop-kicks, he directed play remarkably well.

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

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

"He's an exceptional captain, a superb performer and an even finer individual. We are privileged to have him in our squad."

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

New Zealand commenced strongly during the match, building a substantial early margin through scores from two key players.

Following Ollie Lawrence's strong try, the fly-half's successive drop-kicks resulted in the home side bounced into the locker room with psychological advantage.

"The tough part during those periods is, when the scoreboard says a twelve-point deficit, we are able to adhere to our guns and what we believe the best way to perform is," Ford explained.

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

"Even with a quarter-hour remaining, we were positioned on our own line following a card, so we had challenges in that instance too.

"I believe this illustrates elite competition requires - which team can handle with those moments most effectively."

Each effort happened within a two-minute span as the fly-half who nailed three drop-kicks during a victory facing the Argentine team in the last global tournament, displayed his complete international experience.

Ford hit two drop-goals with Sale in a league contest occurring during challenging weather against Bath - this represents an ability he has extensively practiced.

"The drop-kicks are consistently planned," Ford added.

"Borthwick represents a phenomenal leader since he continually in my ear about it, and correctly so because three points is valuable during any phase of competition."

Ford guided his side brilliantly across the pitch the entire match, executing intelligent kicks - both to compete and identifying openings in the opposition's territory.

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

After beginning England's win over Australia in early November, Ford passed on the fly-half position to his replacement during the Fiji match a week later.

However the greatest challenge in terms of difficulty came against the multiple World Cup winners, so Ford returned to his position.

The national side, currently enjoying ten consecutive victories, meet Argentina on 23 November and curiosity remains to learn whether the coach returns to Fin Smith or maintains Ford.

Regardless of the selection, Ford proved ahead of the next tournament from a World Cup that there is plenty of rugby left within him.