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During November 2024, England fly-half Ford appeared disappointed during the match.

He was called upon as a substitute to assist England complete an historic victory versus the All Blacks, but instead was unable to score a late penalty plus a drop-goal attempt as his side lost in a close contest.

In the wake of those pivotal failures, Ford needed to put in effort to secure another chance to achieve success to the English team.

His playing time was limited to 25 minutes in the recent Six Nations yet multiple impressive performances, particularly on the warm-weather tour versus Argentine and American teams while Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were absent for Lions team responsibilities, put him firmly back among starting candidates.

At 32 years old not only repaid the coach's trust through his selection facing the Kiwis, and the Sharks star delivered a player-of-the-match performance to assist England to a breakthrough triumph versus the Kiwis at home for the first time since 2012.

The pivotal moment in the game Ford nailed two drop-goals in succession right before half-time.

This enabled the English overcome a 12-0 deficit to reduce the margin to 12-11 by halftime, prior to the coach's talented substitutes once more performed in the second half to assist the team to a comfortable 33-19 victory.

"You have to give credit to the veteran members within our side, particularly Ford," Borthwick told. "That period when he converted those drop-kicks, he controlled the match remarkably well.

"Last year In my view George substituted and competed very effectively [facing the Kiwis].

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

"He's a tremendous guide, a brilliant player and an even better person. We are fortunate to feature him on our team."

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

The Kiwis commenced strongly in the stadium, surging to a 12-point lead with tries by Leicester Fainga'anuku and Codie Taylor.

Following Ollie Lawrence's strong try, Ford's consecutive drop-kicks meant the hosts entered the halftime break with the momentum.

"The challenging thing during those periods occurs as the display indicates twelve to zero, we must maintain to our strategy and what we believe the optimal approach to compete is," Ford explained.

"We got ourselves back into contention and we recognized if we started the final period strongly, with the bench coming on, we would be in a favorable situation.

"Despite having fifteen minutes to go, we found ourselves defending our goal line following a card, thus we encountered obstacles there as well.

"I believe this illustrates international rugby involves - which team can handle with those moments most effectively."

Each effort happened within close succession while the number 10 who successfully converted three crucial kicks in a successful match versus Argentina at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, demonstrated his full century of caps experience.

Ford converted two drop-goals for Sale in a league contest conducted in tough circumstances at Bath - this demonstrates a talent he has extensively practiced.

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

"Borthwick represents an incredible coach that he consistently reminding me, and appropriately since three points prove important throughout the match of play."

Ford guided England excellently across the pitch the complete contest, kicking smartly - both to compete and identifying openings in the opposition's territory.

His signature tactical bomb further confused Beauden Barrett, who mishandled the ball.

Having started the English victory versus the Wallabies in early November, Ford relinquished the starting role to his replacement for the Fiji victory a week later.

However the greatest challenge in terms of difficulty was presented by the three-time world champions, so Ford returned to his spot.

The English team, now on a run of an unbeaten streak of ten, face Argentina this month and curiosity remains to discover whether the coach returns for the younger Smith or persists with Ford.

Whichever decision is made, Ford proved with two years remaining prior to global competition that significant amounts of play remaining within him.