George Ford has been working with Jonny Wilkinson to turn the drop-goal into a weapon at the World Cup.
Ford landed three as England opened the tournament with a 27-10 rout of Argentina in Marseille last Saturday and is ready to continue using them if the opportunity arises.
To assist with the tactic, the Sale fly-half has been perfecting his technique with Wilkinson, who famously landed the drop-goal that enabled England to lift the World Cup in 2003.
“Jonny’s big thing is don’t worry about the posts,” said Ford, who continues in the number 10 jersey for Sunday’s showdown with Japan in Nice.
“Obviously you need to know where they are, but the only thing you can control is what you do in terms of how you place the ball and what you do with your body.
“Jonny said you can have the ugliest drop in the world but if you get your body right and the ball is in the slot, and you get the momentum of your body towards the target, you can do it.
“How many drop goals do you see that flap over? A lot of kickers say if you speak to kids growing up they are constantly looking at the posts as if they are going move to make the ball go over.
“The drop-goal has probably been underused. You watch Jonny’s era in 2003 and 2007 and the influence drop-goals had on the game then was enormous.
“Maybe the game has tipped the balance the other side of the spectrum where everyone thinks you need to score tries every two minutes, but you need a variety of ways of scoring.
“We had spoken quite a bit about them in pre-season and how big they can be, especially at World Cups. They can be really effective and hopefully we can show that again.”
In training, Ford competes with fellow playmakers Owen Farrell and Marcus Smith to see how many drop-goals they can kick – under the watchful eye of rugby league great Kevin Sinfield, who is now England’s defence coach.
“It is interesting speaking to Kev because in rugby league you might not see as many drop-goals because it is only worth one point,” Ford said.
“But he said as soon as play-off games came around, how much they practised went through the roof because they knew they would need a couple in a semi or a final, so we are doing this thing at the minute where we kick until we miss.
“Obviously if you don’t kick many before you miss you might go again, but there is a fair bit of competition and pressure between myself, Owen and Marcus when we are doing it.
“We are bringing lads over to come and put pressure on us, because we are not daft, you are not in armchair. You need to make it as realistic as possible.”
Bethell has proved doubters wrong, claims Stokes
Jacob Bethell has proved his critics wrong with his superb performances with the bat against New Zealand, so says Ben Stokes.
After hitting the winning runs in the first Test, new boy Bethell plundered 96 in the second innings of the second match.
The 21-year-old, who came into the team after Jordan Cox suffered a thumb injury, fell just short of what would have been his first professional century in what is only his 22nd first-class appearance.
And with the decision to place Bethell at three having come under scrutiny before the series started, Stokes feels the youngster has swiftly set about showing just what an exceptional talent he is.
"I'm pretty sure there were a lot of doubters about the role we brought him into for that first Test match," Stokes told BBC Sport.
"You've got a young lad with so much potential and so much talent, why not let him go out there and expose himself to Test cricket at its toughest?
"I was devastated for him to not get that three figures. I said to him: 'It's only four runs, isn't it?'
"His response was: 'Yeah, but it would have been flair if I smacked that through the covers to bring it up.'
"I think he's proved a lot and proved why we rate him so highly."
Stokes does not feel Bethell's performances have provided him with a headache when it comes to selection, though.
"No, I don't see it like that," he said.
"If it hadn't gone well for him in those first two Test matches, that wouldn't have changed anyone's mind in our dressing room of him as a player."
Joe Root plundered his sixth Test century of 2024 in England's second innings, matching the joint-highest total of tons in a calendar year by an England player.
Stokes then took 3-5 with the ball to skittle through New Zealand's tail, after Tom Blundell had offered some resistance for the hosts on Sunday with a brilliant 115.
"In this Test in particular, on day one we were 43 for 4 to be here on the winning side on day three is quite phenomenal," said Stokes.
"We got bowled out in fifty overs (54.5) but we had 270 runs on the board which was a good score on that day one-wicket, and then we obviously had time left with the ball to be able to make some inroads.
"To score 270 and take five wickets at the end of day one really set this game up.
"We back ourselves to be able to go out there and change games and we feel that there needs to be a bit of impetus put into the game, particularly with the bat.
"As a bowler you want to be able to plonk it on a length and plonk it onto the top of off stump over and over again. But sometimes when a batter is brave enough to take you on and knock you off your length, it's very hard to commit to still doing that."
New Zealand captain Tom Latham, meanwhile, credited England's dominant display, and handed particular praise to Harry Brook, who scored 123 in the first innings and 55 in the second.
"It's the pressure they are able to put you under, especially with the bat," said Latham.
"I think on day one it was offering enough for our bowlers and the way Harry played in that innings was outstanding.
"Credit where it's due. The way he played puts you under pressure from ball one. He played some incredible shots that you don't necessarily see from other teams around the world."
Blundell's ton fruitless as England seal series win
Tom Blundell's scintillating century was not enough for New Zealand as England sealed a series win by wrapping up a 323-run victory inside three days.
England resumed play at Basin Reserve on Sunday on 378-5, with Joe Root on 73.
The tourist's former captain plundered his way to a 36th Test century, which he brought up with a reverse scoop from Will O’Rourke (1-104), who at least gained a measure of revenge when Root edged through to Blundell in the same over when on 106.
Ben Stokes left himself unbeaten on 49 as he declared with England on 427-6, setting New Zealand a daunting 583 to win.
Stokes' decision swiftly paid off, with Devon Conway (0), Kane Williamson (four) and Black Caps skipper Tom Latham (24) sent packing within the first 10 overs.
Brydon Carse (2-53) dismissed Rachin Ravindra (six) in the 14th over, bringing Blundell to the crease.
After being dropped when on a duck, Blundell offered resistance, smashing his way to a fifth Test ton in rapid time, though Daryl Mitchell (32) and Glenn Phillips (16) fell around him.
Four of Blundell's five sixes came from Shoaib Bashir's bowling, but his stand came to an end when he edged the spinner through to Ben Duckett, who palmed the ball up to take the catch at the second attempt.
That England breakthrough came in the 49th over of New Zealand's second innings, and it was game over by midway through the 55th, with Stokes rattling through the hosts' tail to finish with exceptional figures of 3-5, his best in over two years in a Test.
Now 2-0 up in the three-match series, England will aim for a whitewash when the final Test begins in Hamilton next week.
Data Debrief: Root ties for tons
Root has now scored six Test centuries in 2024. No player has ever scored more than six tons for England in one calendar year, with Root himself having previously done so in 2021. Denis Compton - 1947, Michael Vaughan (2002) and Jonny Bairstow (2022) have also struck six hundreds in one year for England.
His efforts helped England claim their biggest win in terms of runs against New Zealand, while this is their first series win in the country since 2008.
The Black Caps, meanwhile, have now lost their last two Tests at Basin Reserve, having previously gone on a seven-match unbeaten run at the venue. It is the first time New Zealand have lost back-to-back matches in the longest format in Wellington since 2010.
Atkinson and Bethell star as England dominate day two against New Zealand
Gus Atkinson's hat-trick set England on their way to a dominant second day of the second Test with New Zealand in Wellington.
Atkinson took the final three wickets of Nathan Smith, Matt Henry and Tim Southee as the hosts were bowled out for 125, before the tourists' knock of 378-5 put them 533 runs to the good.
The 26-year-old scored the first away hat-trick by an England bowler in 16 years, while it was also the first ever to be recorded at the Basin Reserve.
"The hat-trick ball I was running up thinking: 'I'm getting a wicket this ball, I'm getting a wicket this ball' - I did feel it," he told BBC Sport.
"I haven't really thought about a hat-trick too much before. You want to play to get five-fors as a bowler, you don't think about hat-tricks as much, but getting a hat-trick is special, it's definitely more rare than a five-for.
"It's been a very special year. I'm just looking forward to playing as much Test cricket as I can in the next few years and, hopefully, continuing with the form."
Atkinson's surge left New Zealand 155 runs adrift of England, whose second innings was spearheaded by Jacob Bethell and Ben Duckett (92).
Between them, they added 187 for the second wicket, with Bethell (96) narrowly missing out on becoming the tourists' youngest Test centurion since 1939.
Harry Brook chipped in with 55, while Joe Root and Ben Stokes notched unbeaten contributions of 73 and 35 respectively.
That took England to 378-5 at stumps, as they closed in on their first Test series victory in New Zealand for 16 years.
Data Debrief: Hat-trick hero Atkinson joins exclusive group
Atkinson continued his incredible 2024, in which he took 12 wickets on his Test debut against West Indies in July, while notching up a century and five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka the following month.
The first hat-trick in Test cricket since South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj's against West Indies in 2021, it is the 14th recorded by an Englishman.
Atkinson also joined Stuart Broad, Moeen Ali and Johnny Briggs as the only England players to score a Test century and hat-trick.
England became the first nation to score 500,000 Test runs during day two, while Root passed 50 for the 100th time at this level.
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