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Back in November 2024, English number 10 Ford looked disheartened during the match.

He was called upon off the sidelines to help the home side secure an historic victory versus the All Blacks, however was unable to score a late penalty plus a drop-goal attempt as England lost by two points.

After those expensive errors, Ford had to work hard to earn another opportunity at delivering glory to the English team.

He played only 25 minutes in the recent Six Nations yet multiple strong showings, especially during the warm-weather tour versus Argentine and American teams while Fin Smith and Marcus Smith had departed for British and Irish Lions duty, put him firmly back in the starting mix.

At 32 years old did more than justify the manager's confidence by selecting him against the All Blacks, but the Sale Sharks playmaker produced a man-of-the-match display to support England to a first win versus the Kiwis on home soil since 2012.

The decisive instant occurred as Ford converted consecutive drop-kicks immediately preceding halftime.

This enabled the English overcome a 12-0 deficit to narrow the gap to 12-11 when the half ended, prior to the coach's talented substitutes repeatedly excelled in the second half to help his side to a convincing 33-19 victory.

"Credit must be given to the senior players within our side, particularly Ford," Borthwick told. "During that phase when he converted those crucial kicks, he directed play just incredibly.

"Last year I believed Ford entered and performed exceptionally well [facing the Kiwis].

"One kick struck the post while he attempted a drop-goal under pressure, yet he performed excellently.

"He's a tremendous guide, a superb performer and an even finer individual. We are honored to feature him within our roster."

Drop-kicks 'consistently planned'

The Kiwis commenced strongly during the match, surging to a twelve-point advantage through scores from Fainga'anuku and Taylor.

Following Ollie Lawrence's strong try, the fly-half's successive drop-kicks resulted in the home side returned to the halftime break with the momentum.

"The challenging thing during those periods comes when the board shows 12-0, we are able to adhere to our strategy and our convictions the optimal approach to play the game is," Ford explained.

"We got ourselves back into contention and we knew if we started the latter half effectively, as reserves joined, we found ourselves in a favorable situation.

"Although facing a quarter-hour remaining, we were positioned near our try line with a yellow card, thus we encountered obstacles in that instance too.

"I believe this illustrates elite competition requires - who manages best in those circumstances superiorly."

Each effort happened within close succession as Ford who nailed three drop-kicks in a successful match against Argentina during the 2023 World Cup, showed all his century of caps experience.

Ford successfully executed two three-pointers representing Sale in a league contest played in difficult conditions versus Bath - this represents an ability he is well-practised in.

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

"The coach is such an incredible coach that he is always in my ear about it, and appropriately as three points is valuable during any phase of play."

Ford marshalled his team superbly around the field the complete contest, executing intelligent kicks - both in contestable situations and locating gaps behind the visitors' backfield.

His signature high spiral kick also bamboozled the New Zealand player, who mishandled the ball.

Following his start in the English victory against Australia during the autumn series, Ford passed on the fly-half position to his replacement against Fiji seven days later.

But the biggest test theoretically this season came against the three-time world champions, so Ford returned to his spot.

The English team, presently maintaining ten consecutive victories, play against Argentina this month creating intrigue to discover if the manager opts with the alternative or continues with Ford.

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