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During November 2024, national team playmaker George Ford looked disheartened during the match.

The replacement was brought on from the bench to help the hosts close out a memorable triumph against New Zealand, however missed a late penalty plus a drop-goal attempt as England were beaten in a close contest.

In the wake of those pivotal failures, Ford needed to put in effort to get another shot at delivering glory to the English team.

He saw just 25 minutes of action during this year's Six Nations yet multiple impressive performances, particularly on the warm-weather tour against Argentina and the USA as Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were absent for Lions team responsibilities, put him firmly back as a starting option.

The veteran player did more than justify Steve Borthwick's faith through his selection facing the Kiwis, but the Sale Sharks playmaker produced a man-of-the-match display to assist England to a first win over New Zealand in their own stadium for the first time since 2012.

The pivotal moment in the game Ford nailed two drop-goals in succession immediately preceding halftime.

This enabled the English overcome a 12-0 deficit to narrow the gap to 12-11 when the half ended, before Borthwick's star-studded bench once more performed after halftime to help his side to a comfortable 33-19 win.

"Credit must be given to the veteran members within our side, particularly Ford," the manager commented. "In that moment where he hit those drop-goals, he controlled the match absolutely brilliantly.

"One year earlier I thought George entered and performed really well [against New Zealand].

"A kick hit the post while he attempted a pressured drop-kick, but he played really well.

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

Drop-goals 'always in the plan'

The Kiwis began rapidly at Allianz Stadium, racing into a twelve-point advantage through scores from Fainga'anuku and Taylor.

Subsequent to Ollie Lawrence's strong try, Ford's consecutive drop-kicks resulted in the home side returned to the halftime break with renewed energy.

"The challenging thing during those periods is, when the scoreboard says 12-0, we are able to adhere to our plan and our convictions the best way to play the game is," Ford said.

"We got ourselves back into contention and we knew if we started the final period strongly, as reserves joined, we found ourselves in a favorable situation.

"Even with fifteen minutes to go, we were positioned defending our goal line after a penalty, thus we encountered obstacles during that phase also.

"In my opinion that represents elite competition requires - who manages best in those circumstances the best."

Each effort happened within two minutes of each other as the fly-half who executed three drop-kicks in a successful match versus Argentina during the 2023 World Cup, showed all his 104-cap experience.

Ford successfully executed two drop-kicks for Sale during a Premiership match played in tough circumstances at Bath - this represents an ability he has extensively practiced.

"It [the drop-goals] is always in the plan," Ford stated further.

"Steve is such an outstanding manager since he continually advising me, and correctly so since three points prove important at any stage of competition."

Ford directed England excellently across the pitch the complete contest, executing intelligent kicks - both in contestable situations and identifying openings behind the visitors' backfield.

His trademark 'spiral bomb' further confused the opposing fullback, who failed to regather.

Following his start in the national team's triumph versus the Wallabies on 1 November, Ford handed over the fly-half position to the younger Smith during the Fiji match a week later.

Yet the most significant examination theoretically this season came against the multiple World Cup winners, with Ford regaining his spot.

The English team, currently enjoying ten consecutive victories, face Argentina on 23 November and it will be interesting to learn if the manager opts with the alternative or maintains Ford.

Whichever decision is made, Ford proved with two years remaining before the World Cup that ample opportunity of rugby left in him.