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Back in November 2024, England fly-half George Ford cut a dejected figure during the match.

Ford had been summoned off the sidelines to assist England complete an historic victory versus the All Blacks, yet missed a decisive kick plus a drop-goal attempt as England lost by a narrow margin.

In the wake of those pivotal failures, Ford needed to put in effort to get another shot at delivering glory for England.

He saw just 25 minutes of action in the recent Six Nations however a series of excellent displays, particularly on the warm-weather tour versus Argentine and American teams when the Smith players were absent for Lions tour commitments, returned him solidly as a starting option.

The 32-year-old did more than justify the manager's confidence by selecting him versus New Zealand, plus the club standout delivered a player-of-the-match performance to support the home team to a first win over New Zealand on home soil since 2012.

The decisive instant in the game Ford converted two drop-goals in succession just before the break.

It helped England bounce back from being down 12-0 to trail 12-11 by halftime, prior to the coach's talented substitutes again delivered during the final period to support England to a comfortable 33-19 win.

"Credit must be given to the veteran members in our team, notably George," the coach stated. "That period where he hit those drop-goals, he controlled the match just incredibly.

"One year earlier In my view George came on and played exceptionally well [facing the Kiwis].

"One kick struck the post while he attempted a drop-goal under pressure, however his play was outstanding.

"He is a phenomenal leader, a superb performer and an even better person. We are honored to have him in our squad."

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

The Kiwis began rapidly at Allianz Stadium, building a substantial early margin via touchdowns by Leicester Fainga'anuku and Codie Taylor.

After Lawrence's impressive score, Ford's consecutive drop-kicks resulted in the home side returned to the halftime break with the momentum.

"The difficult aspect in those moments occurs as the display indicates a twelve-point deficit, we can stick to our guns and our convictions the optimal approach to play the game is," Ford said.

"We got ourselves back into contention and we knew were we to commence the final period strongly, as reserves joined, we were in a favorable situation.

"Even with 15 minutes left, we ended up defending our goal line with a yellow card, so we had challenges during that phase also.

"I believe this illustrates elite competition requires - who can deal during those situations superiorly."

Each effort came within close succession as the fly-half who executed three drop-kicks in a successful match versus Argentina during the 2023 World Cup, demonstrated his full century of caps experience.

Ford successfully executed two three-pointers for Sale in a Prem game conducted in difficult conditions against Bath - this represents an ability he is well-practised in.

"It [the drop-goals] are consistently planned," Ford continued.

"Steve is such a phenomenal leader that he is always reminding me, and correctly so as three points are crucial at any stage of play."

Ford directed England excellently across the pitch all game, executing intelligent kicks - both to compete and in finding space against the defensive line.

His characteristic high spiral kick further confused the opposing fullback, who failed to regather.

Having started the English victory versus the Wallabies on 1 November, Ford passed on the fly-half position to the younger Smith against Fiji seven days later.

However the greatest challenge on paper this autumn occurred versus the experienced New Zealand team, so Ford returned to his spot.

The national side, presently maintaining an unbeaten streak of ten, play against Argentina in late November and curiosity remains to learn if the manager opts for the younger Smith or continues with Ford.

Whichever decision is made, Ford established two years away from a World Cup that significant amounts of career ahead for him.