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Back in November 2024, England fly-half Ford looked disheartened at Allianz Stadium.

The replacement was brought on from the bench to help the hosts complete a memorable triumph against New Zealand, but instead missed a crucial penalty plus a drop-goal attempt while his team lost by two points.

In the wake of those pivotal failures, Ford needed to put in effort to earn another opportunity to achieve success to the English team.

He saw just 25 minutes of action during this year's Six Nations however a series of excellent displays, especially during the summer tour against Argentina and the USA while Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were away on British and Irish Lions duty, reestablished him strongly among starting candidates.

At 32 years old did more than justify Steve Borthwick's faith through his selection facing the Kiwis, plus the club standout delivered a player-of-the-match performance to support the hosts to their initial victory against the All Blacks in their own stadium since 2012.

The pivotal moment in the game Ford successfully executed two drop-goals in succession right before half-time.

It helped England bounce back from being down 12-0 to narrow the gap to 12-11 at the break, prior to the coach's talented substitutes once more performed during the final period to assist the team to a comfortable 33-19 triumph.

"Credit must be given to the senior players in our team, particularly Ford," the manager commented. "That period where he hit those drop-kicks, he managed the game absolutely brilliantly.

"One year earlier I thought George came on and played exceptionally well [against New Zealand].

"A attempt hit the upright and he tried a drop-goal under pressure, yet he performed excellently.

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

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

The Kiwis started quickly in the stadium, building a substantial early margin through scores from Leicester Fainga'anuku and Codie Taylor.

Subsequent to Ollie Lawrence's strong try, Ford's back-to-back three-pointers meant the hosts bounced into the locker room with renewed energy.

"The tough part at those times occurs as the display indicates 12-0, we must maintain to our strategy and our philosophy the optimal approach to play the game is," Ford explained.

"We worked our way back into the game and we knew were we to commence the latter half effectively, as reserves joined, we would be in a good position.

"Even with a quarter-hour remaining, we ended up near our try line with a yellow card, so we had challenges during that phase also.

"I believe this illustrates Test rugby is - which team can handle in those circumstances the best."

Both kicks occurred within close succession as the fly-half who executed three crucial kicks in a win against Argentina at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, demonstrated his full 104-cap experience.

Ford successfully executed two drop-goals for Sale during a Premiership match played in challenging weather at Bath - it is a skill he has extensively practiced.

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

"The coach is such a phenomenal leader since he continually advising me, and correctly so as three points are crucial during any phase of competition."

Ford guided England excellently around the field the entire match, executing intelligent kicks - both to compete and in finding space in the opposition's territory.

His trademark high spiral kick also bamboozled the opposing fullback, who couldn't collect.

Following his start in the national team's triumph versus the Wallabies during the autumn series, Ford relinquished the fly-half position to his replacement against Fiji seven days later.

Yet the most significant examination in terms of difficulty occurred versus the multiple World Cup winners, with Ford regaining his starting role.

England, now on a run of 10 straight wins, face Argentina this month creating intrigue to learn if Borthwick goes back to Fin Smith or persists with Ford.

Whichever decision is made, Ford established with two years remaining from a World Cup that significant amounts of rugby left for him.