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In November 2024, England fly-half George Ford appeared disappointed at Allianz Stadium.

Ford had been summoned off the sidelines to support the home side complete a famous win facing the Kiwis, yet failed to convert a decisive kick along with a drop-kick as his side fell short in a close contest.

After those expensive errors, Ford needed to put in effort to get another shot at delivering glory for the national side.

He saw just 25 minutes of action during this year's Six Nations yet multiple strong showings, especially during the summer matches of Argentina and the United States while Fin Smith and Marcus Smith had departed for British and Irish Lions duty, put him firmly back among starting candidates.

The veteran player not only repaid Steve Borthwick's faith in starting him versus New Zealand, but the Sale Sharks playmaker delivered a player-of-the-match performance to help England to a first win over New Zealand on home soil for the first time since 2012.

The crucial point occurred as Ford nailed consecutive drop-kicks immediately preceding halftime.

This assisted England bounce back from being down 12-0 to narrow the gap to 12-11 when the half ended, ahead of the manager's skilled reserves once more performed in the second half to support England to a decisive 33-19 victory.

"Credit must be given to the senior players on our squad, especially George," the manager commented. "During that phase as he scored those drop-kicks, he controlled the match just incredibly.

"Twelve months ago I believed Ford substituted and competed exceptionally well [against New Zealand].

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

"He's an exceptional captain, a brilliant player and an even finer individual. We are privileged to have him within our roster."

Drop-kicks 'consistently planned'

The All Blacks began rapidly during the match, surging to a 12-point lead through scores from Leicester Fainga'anuku and Codie Taylor.

Subsequent to Ollie Lawrence's powerful finish, Ford's back-to-back three-pointers resulted in the home side bounced into the changing rooms with psychological advantage.

"The challenging thing during those periods is, when the scoreboard says a twelve-point deficit, we can stick to our guns and our philosophy the superior method to compete is," Ford stated.

"We fought our way back into contention and we understood should we begin the latter half effectively, with the bench coming on, we found ourselves in an advantageous spot.

"Although facing a quarter-hour remaining, we ended up defending our goal line after a penalty, so we had challenges during that phase also.

"I believe this illustrates Test rugby is - who can deal during those situations most effectively."

Each effort occurred within two minutes of each other while the number 10 who successfully converted three drop-goals in a win facing the Argentine team at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, displayed his complete 104-cap experience.

Ford converted two drop-goals with Sale in a Prem game played in tough circumstances versus Bath - this represents an ability he is well-practised in.

"These attempts is always in the plan," Ford continued.

"Steve is such an incredible coach that he consistently advising me, and appropriately as three points are crucial throughout the match of competition."

Ford directed his team superbly around the field the entire match, kicking smartly - both to compete and identifying openings in the opposition's territory.

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

Having started the national team's triumph over Australia in early November, Ford handed over the starting role to his replacement against Fiji seven days later.

However the greatest challenge in terms of difficulty was presented by the three-time world champions, with Ford regaining his position.

The national side, currently enjoying ten consecutive victories, play against Argentina in late November creating intrigue to discover if Borthwick goes back with the alternative or persists with Ford.

Whatever choice occurs, Ford demonstrated two years away before the World Cup that there is plenty of rugby left in him.