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

The replacement was brought on off the sidelines to assist England secure a famous win against New Zealand, yet missed a late penalty plus a drop-goal attempt as his side lost by two points.

Following those costly misses, Ford needed to put in effort to get another shot to achieve success for England.

He saw just 25 minutes of action in the recent Six Nations yet multiple impressive performances, notably in the warm-weather tour against Argentina and the USA while Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were away on Lions tour commitments, returned him solidly as a starting option.

The 32-year-old fully validated the manager's confidence by selecting him against the All Blacks, and the Sharks star achieved a best-player showing to assist the hosts to their initial victory over New Zealand in their own stadium since 2012.

The pivotal moment came when Ford successfully executed consecutive drop-kicks immediately preceding halftime.

This assisted England overcome a 12-0 deficit to narrow the gap to 12-11 by halftime, ahead of the manager's skilled reserves repeatedly excelled in the second half to help his side to a convincing 33-19 victory.

"Recognition should be offered to the experienced players within our side, particularly Ford," the coach stated. "That period as he scored those drop-kicks, he managed the game remarkably well.

"Last year I thought George entered and performed very effectively [versus the All Blacks].

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

"He is a phenomenal leader, a superb performer and an even better person. We are fortunate to include him within our roster."

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

The Kiwis began rapidly at Allianz Stadium, surging to a twelve-point advantage with tries by two key players.

Subsequent to Ollie Lawrence's strong try, Ford's back-to-back drop-kicks meant the hosts entered the locker room 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 our philosophy the optimal approach to play the game is," Ford said.

"We worked our way back into contention and we knew should we begin the second half well, as reserves joined, we found ourselves in a good position.

"Even with fifteen minutes to go, we found ourselves on our own line after a penalty, thus we encountered obstacles there as well.

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

The two attempts occurred within two minutes of each other as Ford who executed three crucial kicks in a win facing the Argentine team in the last global tournament, demonstrated his full century of caps experience.

Ford converted two three-pointers representing Sale during a Premiership match played in challenging weather at Bath - this represents an ability he is well-practised in.

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

"Steve is such an outstanding manager that he is always in my ear about it, and rightly so since three points prove important at any stage of competition."

Ford directed his side brilliantly across the pitch the entire match, making smart decisions - both to compete and in finding space behind the visitors' backfield.

His signature high spiral kick also bamboozled the opposing fullback, who failed to regather.

After beginning England's win against Australia during the autumn series, Ford handed over the number 10 jersey to his replacement during the Fiji match seven days later.

But the biggest test in terms of difficulty came against the three-time world champions, and Ford reclaimed his spot.

The English team, now on a run of 10 straight wins, meet Argentina on 23 November and curiosity remains to learn if the manager opts to Fin Smith or maintains Ford.

Whichever decision is made, Ford proved ahead of the next tournament from a World Cup that significant amounts of rugby left for him.