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During November 2024, England fly-half Ford looked disheartened on the Allianz Stadium turf.

Ford had been summoned as a substitute to help England secure a memorable triumph facing the Kiwis, but instead failed to convert a crucial penalty along with a drop-kick as England fell short by two points.

In the wake of those pivotal failures, the player was required to strive to get another shot to bring victory for the national side.

He saw just 25 minutes of action during this year's Six Nations but a string of impressive performances, especially during the warm-weather tour against Argentina and the USA as Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were away on British and Irish Lions duty, returned him solidly among starting candidates.

At 32 years old not only repaid the coach's trust by selecting him against the All Blacks, plus the club standout achieved a best-player showing to assist the home team to a breakthrough triumph versus the Kiwis in their own stadium since 2012.

The decisive instant in the game Ford converted consecutive drop-kicks right before half-time.

This enabled the English overcome a 12-0 deficit to narrow the gap to 12-11 at the break, ahead of the manager's skilled reserves repeatedly excelled during the final period to assist the team to a decisive 33-19 win.

"You have to give credit to the experienced players on our squad, particularly Ford," Borthwick told. "That period as he scored those crucial kicks, he directed play absolutely brilliantly.

"One year earlier I believed Ford entered and performed really well [facing the Kiwis].

"One kick struck the post and he tried a difficult drop-goal, but he played really well.

"He's a tremendous guide, a superb performer plus a better human being. We are honored to feature him within our roster."

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

New Zealand commenced strongly during the match, racing into a substantial early margin through scores from Fainga'anuku and Taylor.

Subsequent to Ollie Lawrence's impressive score, Ford's back-to-back three-pointers ensured England entered the locker room with the momentum.

"The difficult aspect at those times occurs as the display indicates 12-0, we can stick to our strategy and our philosophy the optimal approach to play the game is," Ford stated.

"We got ourselves back into the game and we knew should we begin the second half well, with the bench coming on, we found ourselves in a favorable situation.

"Although facing 15 minutes left, we ended up defending our goal line following a card, so we had challenges during that phase also.

"In my opinion that represents Test rugby is - who manages best with those moments most effectively."

The two attempts occurred within close succession as Ford who nailed three crucial kicks during a victory against Argentina in the last global tournament, demonstrated his full 104-cap experience.

Ford hit two three-pointers for Sale in a league contest occurring during tough circumstances against Bath - this demonstrates a talent he has mastered thoroughly.

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

"Steve is such an incredible coach that he is always advising me, and correctly so as three points is valuable during any phase of competition."

Ford marshalled his team superbly across the pitch the complete contest, kicking smartly - both to compete and in finding space behind the visitors' backfield.

His characteristic 'spiral bomb' also bamboozled Beauden Barrett, who couldn't collect.

Following his start in England's win against Australia in early November, Ford relinquished the fly-half position to Fin Smith for the Fiji victory a week later.

But the biggest test in terms of difficulty came against the three-time world champions, with Ford regaining his position.

The national side, currently enjoying an unbeaten streak of ten, play against Argentina in late November and it will be interesting to discover if Borthwick goes back with the alternative or continues with Ford.

Whatever choice occurs, Ford demonstrated ahead of the next tournament prior to global competition that ample opportunity of career ahead for him.