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During November 2024, England fly-half George Ford looked disheartened on the Allianz Stadium turf.

He was called upon off the sidelines to assist the home side close out a famous win versus the All Blacks, but instead failed to convert a late penalty plus a drop-goal attempt while his team fell short in a close contest.

In the wake of those pivotal failures, Ford had to work hard to earn another opportunity at delivering glory to the English team.

He played only 25 minutes during this year's Six Nations yet multiple excellent displays, notably in the summer matches of Argentina and the United States while Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were away on British and Irish Lions duty, put him firmly back among starting candidates.

The 32-year-old fully validated Steve Borthwick's faith by selecting him against the All Blacks, plus the club standout delivered a player-of-the-match performance to assist England to a first win versus the Kiwis in their own stadium ending a drought dating to 2012.

The decisive instant occurred as Ford converted consecutive drop-kicks immediately preceding halftime.

It helped England bounce back from being down 12-0 to narrow the gap to 12-11 at the break, prior to the coach's talented substitutes once more performed in the second half to assist the team to a convincing 33-19 victory.

"You have to give credit to the senior players in our team, notably George," the coach stated. "That period when he converted those crucial kicks, he managed the game just incredibly.

"Twelve months ago In my view George came on and played really well [against New Zealand].

"A attempt hit the upright and he had a difficult drop-goal, yet he performed excellently.

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

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

The Kiwis began rapidly at Allianz Stadium, surging to a twelve-point advantage via touchdowns by Leicester Fainga'anuku and Codie Taylor.

After Lawrence's strong try, the fly-half's successive drop-goals resulted in the home side entered the locker room with the momentum.

"The difficult aspect in those moments comes when the board shows a twelve-point deficit, we are able to adhere to our plan and our convictions the optimal approach to compete is," Ford said.

"We worked our way back into contention and we understood should we begin the latter half effectively, with substitutes entering, we found ourselves in a favorable situation.

"Even with 15 minutes left, we found ourselves on our own line after a penalty, thus we encountered obstacles during that phase also.

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

Each effort came within a two-minute span while the number 10 who executed three drop-kicks in a successful match versus Argentina at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, showed all his international experience.

Ford hit two drop-kicks with Sale in a Prem game occurring during challenging weather versus Bath - this represents an ability he has extensively practiced.

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

"The coach is such a phenomenal leader that he is always reminding me, and rightly so since three points prove important throughout the match of play."

Ford directed England excellently across the pitch the complete contest, kicking smartly - for both attacking and defensive purposes and locating gaps in the opposition's territory.

His characteristic tactical bomb additionally troubled the opposing fullback, who mishandled the ball.

Having started England's win versus the Wallabies on 1 November, Ford passed on the number 10 jersey to the younger Smith for the Fiji victory the following week.

Yet the most significant examination theoretically this season occurred versus the experienced New Zealand team, with Ford regaining his position.

England, now on a run of an unbeaten streak of ten, meet Argentina this month and it will be interesting to discover if the manager opts for the younger Smith or continues with Ford.

Whatever choice occurs, Ford demonstrated two years away from a World Cup that there is plenty of play remaining in him.