Steve Borthwick has paid tribute to the perseverance and character of George Ford after England’s impressive 33-18 victory over the All Blacks. Twelve months ago, Ford narrowly failed to clinch a home victory in this same fixture, but was a pivotal figure on Saturday as his side gained their revenge with a first win over New Zealand in south-west London since 2012.

“George is a brilliant player, an outstanding leader and an even better person,” the head coach said after the fly-half contributed 13 points to seal his team’s 10th successive Test win this year. “I know you like to talk about 12 months ago and the ball hitting a post. But when he pulls on the England shirt he is just such a consistent performer.

“He made brilliant decisions and executed perfectly. I am pleased for him and all the players. They should enjoy themselves tonight and have a good night out.”

Ford’s all-round tactical assurance and calm were exemplified by the two first-half drop goals that shifted the momentum of the contest after the All Blacks had taken an early 12-0 lead. “It was always part of the plan,” Ford said. “You want to come away with something when you get to that end of the pitch. Sometimes the drop goal is the way to go … it’s important to get rewards for the work the forwards are doing.”

Ford and Borthwick were also heartened by England’s assurance in the final quarter as they pulled away to record their ninth win over New Zealand in the long history of the fixture. Borthwick believes his team have further improvement in them and also highlighted Maro Itoje’s eve-of game motivational speech.

Maro Itoje’s motivational speech paid dividends in the buildup to England’s 10th successive victory. Photograph: Dan Mullan/The RFU Collection/Getty Images

“I heard him address the team this morning,” said Borthwick. “He talked about when the team were 14 or 15-year-old boys, dreaming of playing for England and playing here against teams like New Zealand. He asked the players to go out and play with that intent of a 14 or 15-year-old with a dream. The boys took those dreams on to the pitch today and they were outstanding.

“We know [an improved world] ranking helps, but this isn’t about that. This is about trying to achieve special moments and special memories and today is one of them. Hopefully, there’s a load of young future rugby players watching around the country who want to wear the white shirt and get great victories.”

Itoje said England had been keen to make a statement even before the game kicked off by standing up to the haka. “As a group of leaders we came up with what you guys saw. We were trying to achieve the same thing they were trying to achieve.

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“The haka is a war dance they do to get themselves up for the game. I know it has a huge spiritual meaning to New Zealand. Our response was just to show ourselves, the team and the Allianz Stadium that we’re ready for the challenge.”

The All Blacks head coach, Scott Robertson, acknowledged his side had been beaten by the better side on the day. “They finished better than us,” he said. “We had some really good opportunities we didn’t take. It is hard to win a grand slam and we definitely know how hard it is now. We wanted to put our names on that history board, but we didn’t get there.”

His captain, Scott Barrett, felt similarly. “The grand slam was a goal we set a few weeks ago, but England pulled the rug from under us. It is hugely disappointing, but we will have to bounce back. You have got to take your hat off to England for their defence – it is a big part of their DNA.”