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In November 2024, English number 10 Ford looked disheartened on the Allianz Stadium turf.

The replacement was brought on from the bench to help the hosts secure a famous win facing the Kiwis, yet failed to convert a crucial penalty plus a drop-goal attempt as his side were beaten by two points.

After those expensive errors, Ford needed to put in effort to get another shot at delivering glory for England.

He played only 25 minutes in the recent Six Nations yet multiple excellent displays, especially during the summer tour of Argentina and the United States when the Smith players had departed for Lions tour commitments, reestablished him strongly as a starting option.

At 32 years old not only repaid Steve Borthwick's faith in starting him facing the Kiwis, plus the club standout delivered a player-of-the-match performance to help England to a breakthrough triumph against the All Blacks in their own stadium ending a drought dating to 2012.

The crucial point occurred as Ford converted consecutive drop-kicks just before the break.

It helped England recover from 12-0 down to trail 12-11 when the half ended, ahead of the manager's skilled reserves repeatedly excelled in the second half to assist the team to a comfortable 33-19 win.

"You have to give credit to the senior players within our side, notably George," Borthwick told. "In that moment where he hit those drop-kicks, he controlled the match remarkably well.

"Last year In my view George entered and performed very effectively [facing the Kiwis].

"A kick hit the post and he had a drop-goal under pressure, however his play was outstanding.

"He is a phenomenal leader, an outstanding athlete and an even better person. We are privileged to have him within our roster."

Drop-goals 'always in the plan'

New Zealand commenced strongly in the stadium, surging to 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 resulted in the home side entered the locker room with psychological advantage.

"The difficult aspect at those times comes when the board shows twelve to zero, we are able to adhere to our plan and our philosophy the superior method to compete is," Ford said.

"We fought our way back into it and we recognized should we begin the latter half effectively, as reserves joined, we would be in an advantageous spot.

"Despite having a quarter-hour remaining, we were positioned defending our goal line with a yellow card, so we had challenges there as well.

"I believe this illustrates elite competition requires - which team can handle during those situations the best."

The two attempts came within close succession as Ford who executed three drop-kicks in a win facing the Argentine team at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, displayed his complete international experience.

Ford successfully executed two three-pointers with Sale during a Premiership match conducted in difficult conditions against Bath - it is a skill he has extensively practiced.

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

"Borthwick represents an outstanding manager that he is always advising me, and correctly so because three points prove important during any phase of competition."

Ford marshalled his side brilliantly across the pitch the entire match, kicking smartly - both in contestable situations and locating gaps in the opposition's territory.

His characteristic 'spiral bomb' additionally troubled the New Zealand player, who mishandled the ball.

After beginning the national team's triumph over Australia in early November, Ford passed on the number 10 jersey to his replacement during the Fiji match seven days later.

However the greatest challenge on paper this autumn came against the three-time world champions, with Ford regaining his spot.

The national side, currently enjoying ten consecutive victories, play against Argentina in late November and it will be interesting to learn if Borthwick goes back to Fin Smith or maintains Ford.

Whatever choice occurs, Ford demonstrated with two years remaining prior to global competition that ample opportunity of rugby left within him.