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During November 2024, England fly-half Ford looked disheartened at Allianz Stadium.

Ford had been summoned off the sidelines to support the home side complete a memorable triumph versus the All Blacks, however was unable to score a crucial penalty along with a drop-kick as England fell short by two points.

After those expensive errors, Ford had to work hard to earn another opportunity to achieve success for England.

He saw just 25 minutes of action in the recent Six Nations but a string of excellent displays, notably in the summer tour of Argentina and the United States as Fin Smith and Marcus Smith had departed for Lions team responsibilities, returned him solidly in the starting mix.

The 32-year-old fully validated Steve Borthwick's faith by selecting him facing the Kiwis, and the Sharks star produced a man-of-the-match display to support the hosts to a breakthrough triumph versus the Kiwis in their own stadium for the first time since 2012.

The pivotal moment in the game Ford nailed consecutive drop-kicks right before half-time.

This assisted England overcome a 12-0 deficit to narrow the gap to 12-11 when the half ended, ahead of the manager's skilled reserves again delivered during the final period to assist the team to a decisive 33-19 win.

"Recognition should be offered to the senior players on our squad, notably George," the coach stated. "During that phase where he hit those drop-goals, he managed the game absolutely brilliantly.

"One year earlier I believed Ford entered and performed very effectively [against New Zealand].

"A attempt hit the upright while he attempted a drop-goal under pressure, however his play was outstanding.

"He is a phenomenal leader, a superb performer and an even finer individual. We are privileged to feature him in our squad."

Drop-goals 'always in the plan'

The Kiwis began rapidly at Allianz Stadium, building a 12-point lead through scores from two key players.

Following Ollie Lawrence's powerful finish, the fly-half's successive three-pointers resulted in the home side returned to the halftime break with the momentum.

"The difficult aspect in those moments occurs as the display indicates twelve to zero, we are able to adhere to our guns and what we believe the superior method to play the game is," Ford said.

"We fought our way back into the game and we understood if we started the latter half effectively, with substitutes entering, we would be in a good position.

"Although facing 15 minutes left, we ended up near our try line after a penalty, thus we encountered obstacles during that phase also.

"I believe this illustrates international rugby involves - who can deal in those circumstances superiorly."

Both kicks came within two minutes of each other while the number 10 who executed three drop-goals in a win facing the Argentine team in the last global tournament, demonstrated his full century of caps experience.

Ford successfully executed two drop-goals with Sale in a Prem game played in tough circumstances at Bath - this represents an ability he has extensively practiced.

"The drop-kicks are consistently planned," Ford continued.

"Steve is such an outstanding manager that he is always advising me, and rightly so since three points are crucial during any phase of play."

Ford marshalled his team superbly throughout the match the entire match, kicking smartly - both in contestable situations and locating gaps behind the visitors' backfield.

His trademark high spiral kick additionally troubled the New Zealand player, who failed to regather.

After beginning England's win versus the Wallabies in early November, Ford handed over the number 10 jersey to the younger Smith during the Fiji match seven days later.

However the greatest challenge in terms of difficulty occurred versus the three-time world champions, so Ford returned to his position.

England, presently maintaining an unbeaten streak of ten, face Argentina on 23 November creating intrigue to discover whether the coach returns to Fin Smith or persists with Ford.

Whatever choice occurs, Ford demonstrated ahead of the next tournament from a World Cup that ample opportunity of rugby left in him.