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In November 2024, national team playmaker George Ford looked disheartened on the Allianz Stadium turf.

Ford had been summoned as a substitute to assist the home side secure a famous win against New Zealand, but instead missed a crucial penalty plus a drop-goal attempt as England were beaten in a close contest.

Following those costly misses, the player was required to strive to secure another chance to achieve success for the national side.

His playing time was limited to 25 minutes in the recent Six Nations but a string of excellent displays, notably in the summer matches versus Argentine and American teams as Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were away on Lions team responsibilities, reestablished him strongly as a starting option.

The 32-year-old fully validated the coach's trust in starting him versus New Zealand, but the Sale Sharks playmaker achieved a best-player showing to assist the home team to a first win against the All Blacks at home ending a drought dating to 2012.

The decisive instant occurred as Ford nailed consecutive drop-kicks just before the break.

This enabled the English overcome a 12-0 deficit to trail 12-11 at the break, prior to the coach's talented substitutes again delivered after halftime to assist the team to a comfortable 33-19 victory.

"Credit must be given to the experienced players in our team, especially George," the manager commented. "During that phase as he scored those crucial kicks, he directed play remarkably well.

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

"One kick struck the post and he had a pressured drop-kick, however his play was outstanding.

"He is a phenomenal leader, an outstanding athlete plus a better human being. We are fortunate to have him within our roster."

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

The Kiwis commenced strongly at Allianz Stadium, building a 12-point lead through scores from Leicester Fainga'anuku and Codie Taylor.

Following Ollie Lawrence's impressive score, the fly-half's successive drop-goals meant the hosts bounced into the changing rooms with the momentum.

"The challenging thing in those moments is, when the scoreboard says 12-0, we can stick to our plan and our philosophy the optimal approach to perform is," Ford said.

"We got ourselves back into contention and we recognized should we begin the second half well, with substitutes entering, we were in an advantageous spot.

"Even with fifteen minutes to go, we were positioned defending our goal line following a card, thus we encountered obstacles in that instance too.

"I believe this illustrates Test rugby is - who manages best with those moments the best."

Each effort occurred within two minutes of each other as Ford who successfully converted three drop-kicks during a victory facing the Argentine team at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, showed all his century of caps experience.

Ford hit two drop-goals for Sale in a league contest played in challenging weather versus Bath - this represents an ability he is well-practised in.

"The drop-kicks is always in the plan," Ford continued.

"Borthwick represents an incredible coach that he consistently in my ear about it, and correctly so since three points are crucial throughout the match of competition."

Ford directed England excellently throughout the match the entire match, kicking smartly - both in contestable situations and locating gaps against the defensive line.

His signature tactical bomb further confused the New Zealand player, who mishandled the ball.

After beginning the English victory versus the Wallabies in early November, Ford relinquished the starting role to Fin Smith against Fiji a week later.

However the greatest challenge theoretically this season occurred versus the experienced New Zealand team, and Ford reclaimed his starting role.

The national side, presently maintaining ten consecutive victories, play against Argentina on 23 November creating intrigue to discover whether the coach returns for the younger Smith or maintains Ford.

Whichever decision is made, Ford proved with two years remaining prior to global competition that ample opportunity of career ahead in him.