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During November 2024, English number 10 George Ford looked disheartened during the match.

The replacement was brought on as a substitute to help England complete an historic victory facing the Kiwis, but instead missed a decisive kick plus a drop-goal attempt while his team fell short by two points.

Following those costly misses, Ford had to work hard to get another shot at delivering glory to the English team.

His playing time was limited to 25 minutes in the recent Six Nations however a series of excellent displays, notably in the summer matches against Argentina and the USA as Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were absent for British and Irish Lions duty, returned him solidly in the starting mix.

The veteran player not only repaid Steve Borthwick's faith in starting him against the All Blacks, plus the club standout delivered a player-of-the-match performance to assist the hosts to a breakthrough triumph versus the Kiwis at home for the first time since 2012.

The pivotal moment came when Ford nailed two drop-goals in succession immediately preceding halftime.

This assisted England overcome a 12-0 deficit to narrow the gap to 12-11 when the half ended, prior to the coach's talented substitutes again delivered in the second half to support England to a convincing 33-19 triumph.

"Credit must be given to the experienced players in our team, especially George," Borthwick told. "That period as he scored those crucial kicks, he directed play remarkably well.

"Twelve months ago In my view George entered and performed really well [against New Zealand].

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

"He is a phenomenal leader, an outstanding athlete and an even better person. We are fortunate to feature him in our squad."

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

The All Blacks started quickly during the match, racing into a substantial early margin with tries by two key players.

Subsequent to Ollie Lawrence's strong try, Ford's consecutive drop-kicks meant the hosts entered the locker room with renewed energy.

"The challenging thing at those times is, when the scoreboard says 12-0, we can stick to our strategy and our philosophy the best way to play the game is," Ford explained.

"We got ourselves back into the game and we knew were we to commence the latter half effectively, with the bench coming on, we would be in a favorable situation.

"Despite having 15 minutes left, we were positioned near our try line following a card, thus we encountered obstacles there as well.

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

Each effort came within close succession as Ford who successfully converted three drop-kicks during a victory against Argentina during the 2023 World Cup, showed all his 104-cap experience.

Ford converted two drop-goals for Sale in a Prem game occurring during tough circumstances at Bath - this demonstrates a talent he has mastered thoroughly.

"The drop-kicks is always in the plan," Ford continued.

"Borthwick represents an outstanding manager that he is always reminding me, and correctly so since three points is valuable throughout the match of the game."

Ford guided his team superbly across the pitch the complete contest, executing intelligent kicks - both to compete and in finding space in the opposition's territory.

His characteristic 'spiral bomb' further confused the New Zealand player, who failed to regather.

After beginning the English victory versus the Wallabies in early November, Ford handed over the fly-half position to his replacement for the Fiji victory a week later.

However the greatest challenge theoretically this season was presented by the three-time world champions, with Ford regaining his position.

England, now on a run of ten consecutive victories, play against Argentina on 23 November and curiosity remains to learn if the manager opts to Fin Smith or continues with Ford.

Whatever choice occurs, Ford demonstrated ahead of the next tournament prior to global competition that significant amounts of rugby left for him.