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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 England close out an historic victory facing the Kiwis, yet failed to convert a crucial penalty along with a drop-kick as England were beaten in a close contest.

Following those costly misses, Ford needed to put in effort to earn another opportunity to achieve success to the English team.

He saw just 25 minutes of action during this year's Six Nations however a series of impressive performances, particularly on the warm-weather tour of Argentina and the United States when the Smith players were away on British and Irish Lions duty, returned him solidly as a starting option.

At 32 years old fully validated the manager's confidence by selecting him facing the Kiwis, but the Sale Sharks playmaker delivered a player-of-the-match performance to help the home team to a first win versus the Kiwis at home since 2012.

The crucial point came when Ford successfully executed two drop-goals in succession immediately preceding halftime.

This assisted England recover from 12-0 down to narrow the gap to 12-11 when the half ended, ahead of the manager's skilled reserves once more performed after halftime to help his side to a convincing 33-19 triumph.

"Recognition should be offered to the veteran members within our side, especially George," Borthwick told. "That period when he converted those drop-kicks, he managed the game remarkably well.

"One year earlier In my view George entered and performed really well [versus the All Blacks].

"A attempt hit the upright and he had a pressured drop-kick, however his play was outstanding.

"He's an exceptional captain, a brilliant player and an even finer individual. We are privileged to feature him on our team."

Drop-goals 'always in the plan'

The All Blacks commenced strongly in the stadium, surging to a substantial early margin with tries by Fainga'anuku and Taylor.

After Lawrence's strong try, Ford's consecutive three-pointers resulted in the home side bounced into the halftime break with psychological advantage.

"The challenging thing at those times comes when the board shows a twelve-point deficit, we must maintain to our guns and what we believe the superior method to compete is," Ford explained.

"We got ourselves back into it and we recognized if we started the second half well, with the bench coming on, we were in a good position.

"Even with fifteen minutes to go, we were positioned on our own line with a yellow card, thus we encountered obstacles in that instance too.

"I believe this illustrates elite competition requires - who can deal during those situations the best."

The two attempts occurred within close succession while the number 10 who successfully converted three crucial kicks in a successful match facing the Argentine team at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, displayed his complete international experience.

Ford hit two three-pointers representing Sale in a league contest occurring during difficult conditions versus Bath - this represents an ability he has extensively practiced.

"It [the drop-goals] are consistently planned," Ford continued.

"Borthwick represents an outstanding manager that he is always in my ear about it, and appropriately because three points is valuable during any phase of the game."

Ford directed his side brilliantly across the pitch the entire match, kicking smartly - for both attacking and defensive purposes and locating gaps against the defensive line.

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

Following his start in the English victory versus the Wallabies on 1 November, Ford passed on the number 10 jersey to Fin Smith against Fiji the following week.

Yet the most significant examination in terms of difficulty occurred versus the three-time world champions, so Ford returned to his spot.

The English team, presently maintaining ten consecutive victories, meet Argentina on 23 November creating intrigue to determine whether the coach returns to Fin Smith or continues with Ford.

Regardless of the selection, Ford established two years away from a World Cup that there is plenty of rugby left for him.