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During November 2024, England fly-half George Ford cut a dejected figure at Allianz Stadium.

The replacement was brought on as a substitute to support the hosts close out a famous win versus the All Blacks, yet was unable to score a late penalty and drop-goal while his team lost by a narrow margin.

Following those costly misses, Ford needed to put in effort to secure another chance to achieve success for England.

His playing time was limited to 25 minutes during this year's Six Nations but a string of impressive performances, notably in the summer tour versus Argentine and American teams when the Smith players were away on British and Irish Lions duty, returned him solidly in the starting mix.

The 32-year-old not only repaid the manager's confidence by selecting him against the All Blacks, plus the club standout delivered a player-of-the-match performance to assist England to a breakthrough triumph against the All Blacks on home soil since 2012.

The pivotal moment came when Ford converted back-to-back drop-goals right before half-time.

This assisted England recover from 12-0 down to trail 12-11 by halftime, ahead of the manager's skilled reserves repeatedly excelled in the second half to help his side to a convincing 33-19 triumph.

"Recognition should be offered to the senior players in our team, particularly Ford," Borthwick told. "That period where he hit those crucial kicks, he managed the game remarkably well.

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

"One kick struck the post and he tried a pressured drop-kick, yet he performed excellently.

"He is a phenomenal leader, an outstanding athlete plus a better human being. We are honored to include him within our roster."

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

The Kiwis commenced strongly in the stadium, surging to a substantial early margin through scores from Leicester Fainga'anuku and Codie Taylor.

Following Ollie Lawrence's impressive score, Ford's consecutive drop-goals resulted in the home side bounced into the locker room with renewed energy.

"The challenging thing at those times is, when the scoreboard says twelve to zero, we are able to adhere to our plan and what we believe the superior method to play the game is," Ford stated.

"We got ourselves back into contention and we knew if we started the final period strongly, as reserves joined, we were in a favorable situation.

"Even with 15 minutes left, we found ourselves defending our goal line after a penalty, meaning we faced difficulties there as well.

"I believe this illustrates international rugby involves - who can deal in those circumstances the best."

Both kicks happened within two minutes of each other while the number 10 who nailed three drop-goals in a successful match versus Argentina during the 2023 World Cup, demonstrated his full international experience.

Ford successfully executed two drop-kicks with Sale in a league contest played in tough circumstances at Bath - this demonstrates a talent he is well-practised in.

"These attempts is always in the plan," Ford stated further.

"The coach is such an outstanding manager that he consistently reminding me, and rightly so since three points is valuable at any stage of play."

Ford guided his side brilliantly throughout the match the entire match, executing intelligent kicks - both in contestable situations and locating gaps behind the visitors' backfield.

His characteristic tactical bomb also bamboozled Beauden Barrett, who failed to regather.

After beginning England's win against Australia in early November, Ford handed over the starting role to the younger Smith for the Fiji victory a week later.

However the greatest challenge theoretically this season was presented by the experienced New Zealand team, and Ford reclaimed his spot.

England, now on a run of 10 straight wins, face Argentina in late November creating intrigue to discover if Borthwick goes back to Fin Smith or maintains Ford.

Whatever choice occurs, Ford established ahead of the next tournament from a World Cup that there is plenty of play remaining within him.