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

He was called upon from the bench to assist the home side close out an historic victory versus the All Blacks, yet missed a late penalty along with a drop-kick as his side fell short by two points.

Following those costly misses, Ford needed to put in effort to earn another opportunity to achieve success for the national side.

His playing time was limited to 25 minutes throughout the Six Nations tournament but a string of strong showings, especially during the warm-weather tour versus Argentine and American teams as Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were absent for Lions tour commitments, reestablished him strongly in the starting mix.

At 32 years old fully validated Steve Borthwick's faith in starting him facing the Kiwis, plus the club standout produced a man-of-the-match display to support the home team to a first win versus the Kiwis at home ending a drought dating to 2012.

The crucial point came when Ford converted back-to-back drop-goals right before half-time.

This enabled the English overcome a 12-0 deficit to reduce the margin to 12-11 when the half ended, before Borthwick's star-studded bench once more performed in the second half to support England to a convincing 33-19 triumph.

"Recognition should be offered to the senior players on our squad, particularly Ford," the manager commented. "That period as he scored those drop-kicks, he controlled the match absolutely brilliantly.

"Twelve months ago I thought George entered and performed very effectively [versus the All Blacks].

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

"He's an exceptional captain, an outstanding athlete and an even finer individual. We are honored to include him on our team."

Drop-goals 'always in the plan'

The Kiwis commenced strongly in the stadium, racing into a 12-point lead through scores from Fainga'anuku and Taylor.

Following Ollie Lawrence's strong try, the fly-half's successive three-pointers resulted in the home side bounced into the locker room with the momentum.

"The tough part at those times is, when the scoreboard says 12-0, we must maintain to our plan and our philosophy the best way to play the game is," Ford stated.

"We worked our way back into the game and we recognized should we begin the second half well, with the bench coming on, we found ourselves in an advantageous spot.

"Despite having fifteen minutes to go, we ended up on our own line following a card, meaning we faced difficulties during that phase also.

"I think that's what Test rugby is - who can deal during those situations most effectively."

Each effort occurred within two minutes of each other as the fly-half who nailed three drop-goals in a successful match versus Argentina during the 2023 World Cup, demonstrated his full 104-cap experience.

Ford successfully executed two drop-goals for Sale in a Prem game occurring during challenging weather versus Bath - this represents an ability he is well-practised in.

"These attempts form part of our strategy," Ford stated further.

"Borthwick represents an incredible coach that he consistently advising me, and rightly so because three points are crucial throughout the match of the game."

Ford guided his team superbly around the field all game, kicking smartly - both to compete and in finding space against the defensive line.

His signature 'spiral bomb' additionally troubled the opposing fullback, who couldn't collect.

Having started the national team's triumph against Australia during the autumn series, Ford relinquished the fly-half position to Fin Smith against Fiji seven days later.

However the greatest challenge theoretically this season came against the multiple World Cup winners, so Ford returned to his starting role.

England, currently enjoying an unbeaten streak of ten, face Argentina in late November and it will be interesting to determine if the manager opts with the alternative or continues with Ford.

Regardless of the selection, Ford demonstrated ahead of the next tournament before the World Cup that ample opportunity of career ahead for him.