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

Ford had been summoned from the bench to assist England complete a famous win against New Zealand, but instead missed a late penalty along with a drop-kick while his team lost by two points.

In the wake of those pivotal failures, Ford needed to put in effort to secure another chance at delivering glory to the English team.

He saw just 25 minutes of action in the recent Six Nations however a series of strong showings, particularly on the summer matches versus Argentine and American teams as Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were away on Lions team responsibilities, reestablished him strongly among starting candidates.

The veteran player not only repaid Steve Borthwick's faith in starting him versus New Zealand, plus the club standout delivered a player-of-the-match performance to assist England to their initial victory versus the Kiwis at home since 2012.

The decisive instant occurred as Ford successfully executed back-to-back drop-goals immediately preceding halftime.

It helped England bounce back from being down 12-0 to trail 12-11 when the half ended, prior to the coach's talented substitutes repeatedly excelled in the second half to support England to a comfortable 33-19 victory.

"You have to give credit to the veteran members within our side, notably George," the coach stated. "That period as he scored those drop-kicks, he controlled the match just incredibly.

"Twelve months ago In my view George entered and performed really well [against New Zealand].

"One kick struck the post while he attempted a pressured drop-kick, yet he performed excellently.

"He's a tremendous guide, an outstanding athlete and an even finer individual. We are fortunate to feature him on our team."

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

New Zealand began rapidly at Allianz Stadium, surging to a 12-point lead via touchdowns by Fainga'anuku and Taylor.

Subsequent to Ollie Lawrence's powerful finish, the fly-half's successive three-pointers ensured England bounced into the halftime break with the momentum.

"The difficult aspect during those periods comes when the board shows a twelve-point deficit, we can stick to our strategy and what we believe the optimal approach to compete is," Ford said.

"We got ourselves back into contention and we understood if we started the latter half effectively, with substitutes entering, we would be in a good position.

"Despite having a quarter-hour remaining, we ended up defending our goal line after a penalty, thus we encountered obstacles during that phase also.

"I think that's what elite competition requires - who manages best in those circumstances superiorly."

Each effort came within a two-minute span as the fly-half who nailed three crucial kicks in a win facing the Argentine team in the last global tournament, displayed his complete century of caps experience.

Ford hit two drop-goals representing Sale in a Prem game occurring during difficult conditions against Bath - this demonstrates a talent he has extensively practiced.

"The drop-kicks are consistently planned," Ford stated further.

"The coach is such an outstanding manager that he consistently reminding me, and rightly so because three points prove important throughout the match of competition."

Ford guided his side brilliantly across the pitch all game, kicking smartly - both to compete and identifying openings behind the visitors' backfield.

His trademark 'spiral bomb' further confused the opposing fullback, who mishandled the ball.

Having started the English victory over Australia in early November, Ford relinquished the starting role to the younger Smith for the Fiji victory a week later.

But the biggest test theoretically this season came against the experienced New Zealand team, so Ford returned to his starting role.

England, now on a run of an unbeaten streak of ten, face Argentina this month and curiosity remains to learn whether the coach returns for the younger Smith or maintains Ford.

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