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In November 2024, English number 10 George Ford appeared disappointed at Allianz Stadium.

Ford had been summoned from the bench to assist the home side complete an historic victory versus the All Blacks, however was unable to score a decisive kick and drop-goal as England were beaten by a narrow margin.

After those expensive errors, Ford needed to put in effort to earn another opportunity to bring victory for the national side.

He played only 25 minutes during this year's Six Nations yet multiple impressive performances, especially during the summer matches against Argentina and the USA while Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were away on British and Irish Lions duty, returned him solidly in the starting mix.

The 32-year-old fully validated the manager's confidence by selecting him against the All Blacks, 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 for the first time since 2012.

The decisive instant occurred as Ford converted back-to-back drop-goals right before half-time.

This enabled the English overcome a 12-0 deficit to narrow the gap to 12-11 at the break, before Borthwick's star-studded bench again delivered in the second half to support England to a comfortable 33-19 triumph.

"Credit must be given to the experienced players on our squad, especially George," the manager commented. "That period when he converted those crucial kicks, he directed play remarkably well.

"Last year In my view George entered and performed exceptionally well [against New Zealand].

"A kick hit the post while he attempted a pressured drop-kick, but he played really well.

"He is a phenomenal leader, an outstanding athlete plus a better human being. We are honored to have him on our team."

Drop-goals 'always in the plan'

The Kiwis began rapidly in the stadium, surging to a 12-point lead through scores from Fainga'anuku and Taylor.

After Lawrence's powerful finish, Ford's consecutive drop-kicks resulted in the home side returned to the changing rooms with psychological advantage.

"The difficult aspect at those times comes when the board shows 12-0, we are able to adhere to our plan and our philosophy the optimal approach to perform is," Ford stated.

"We got ourselves back into the game and we recognized should we begin the latter half effectively, with the bench coming on, we were in a favorable situation.

"Even with fifteen minutes to go, we ended up on our own line following a card, thus we encountered obstacles during that phase also.

"I believe this illustrates elite competition requires - which team can handle during those situations the best."

Each effort happened within a two-minute span as the fly-half who successfully converted three drop-kicks in a successful match against Argentina in the last global tournament, displayed his complete 104-cap experience.

Ford converted two drop-goals for Sale in a league contest occurring during tough circumstances at Bath - this represents an ability he has extensively practiced.

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

"The coach is such a phenomenal leader that he consistently advising me, and rightly so because three points prove important throughout the match of the game."

Ford marshalled his side brilliantly throughout the match the complete contest, kicking smartly - both to compete and locating gaps against the defensive line.

His signature tactical bomb also bamboozled the New Zealand player, who couldn't collect.

Having started the national team's triumph versus the Wallabies on 1 November, Ford relinquished the number 10 jersey to Fin Smith for the Fiji victory a week later.

Yet the most significant examination on paper this autumn came against the three-time world champions, so Ford returned to his spot.

The national side, now on a run of ten consecutive victories, meet Argentina on 23 November and curiosity remains to learn if Borthwick goes back with the alternative or persists with Ford.

Regardless of the selection, Ford proved ahead of the next tournament from a World Cup that significant amounts of career ahead within him.