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

He was called upon as a substitute to help the home side close out an historic victory facing the Kiwis, but instead failed to convert a late penalty and drop-goal as his side fell short by a narrow margin.

In the wake of those pivotal failures, the player was required to strive to get another shot to bring victory for England.

He played only 25 minutes in the recent Six Nations but a string of excellent displays, notably in the summer tour against Argentina and the USA while Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were absent for British and Irish Lions duty, reestablished him strongly in the starting mix.

At 32 years old fully validated Steve Borthwick's faith in starting him against the All Blacks, and the Sharks star delivered a player-of-the-match performance to assist England to a breakthrough triumph versus the Kiwis in their own stadium since 2012.

The pivotal moment occurred as Ford converted consecutive drop-kicks immediately preceding halftime.

This enabled the English recover from 12-0 down to narrow the gap to 12-11 when the half ended, before Borthwick's star-studded bench once more performed during the final period to assist the team to a decisive 33-19 victory.

"You have to give credit to the senior players in our team, notably George," the coach stated. "During that phase where he hit those crucial kicks, he managed the game just incredibly.

"Last year In my view George substituted and competed really well [versus the All Blacks].

"A kick hit the post and he had a difficult drop-goal, yet he performed excellently.

"He is a phenomenal leader, a brilliant player plus a better human being. We are honored to feature him within our roster."

Drop-goals 'always in the plan'

The All Blacks started quickly during the match, surging to a 12-point lead through scores from two key players.

Subsequent to Ollie Lawrence's impressive score, Ford's back-to-back drop-goals resulted in the home side entered the halftime break with renewed energy.

"The tough part in those moments is, when the scoreboard says twelve to zero, we are able to adhere to our guns and what we believe the best way to play the game is," Ford explained.

"We worked our way back into it and we recognized should we begin the second half well, as reserves joined, we found ourselves in a favorable situation.

"Even with 15 minutes left, we found ourselves on our own line after a penalty, thus we encountered obstacles in that instance too.

"I believe this illustrates elite competition requires - which team can handle with those moments superiorly."

Both kicks came within a two-minute span as the fly-half who executed three drop-goals in a successful match facing the Argentine team at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, displayed his complete 104-cap experience.

Ford converted two drop-kicks representing Sale during a Premiership match played in tough circumstances at Bath - this represents an ability he has extensively practiced.

"These attempts form part of our strategy," Ford continued.

"Steve is such a phenomenal leader since he continually advising me, and rightly so because three points are crucial at any stage of the game."

Ford marshalled his team superbly throughout the match the complete contest, executing intelligent kicks - for both attacking and defensive purposes and locating gaps in the opposition's territory.

His signature 'spiral bomb' further confused the New Zealand player, who mishandled the ball.

Following his start in England's win against Australia during the autumn series, Ford passed on the fly-half position to his replacement against Fiji a week later.

However the greatest challenge in terms of difficulty was presented by the experienced New Zealand team, so Ford returned to his position.

The English team, currently enjoying ten consecutive victories, play against Argentina this month and curiosity remains to discover whether the coach returns to Fin Smith or continues with Ford.

Regardless of the selection, Ford demonstrated two years away prior to global competition that there is plenty of career ahead for him.