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In November 2024, English number 10 George Ford looked disheartened during the match.

Ford had been summoned off the sidelines to assist England close out a famous win versus the All Blacks, but instead failed to convert a late penalty along with a drop-kick as his side fell short in a close contest.

After those expensive errors, Ford needed to put in effort to get another shot to bring victory for England.

His playing time was limited to 25 minutes in the recent Six Nations yet multiple excellent displays, especially during the summer matches of Argentina and the United States while Fin Smith and Marcus Smith had departed for British and Irish Lions duty, returned him solidly as a starting option.

At 32 years old fully validated the manager's confidence by selecting him against the All Blacks, plus the club standout achieved a best-player showing to help the hosts to a first win against the All Blacks at home since 2012.

The pivotal moment came when Ford converted back-to-back drop-goals just before the break.

It helped England recover from 12-0 down to trail 12-11 at the break, prior to the coach's talented substitutes once more performed in the second half to help his side to a convincing 33-19 triumph.

"Credit must be given to the veteran members in our team, notably George," the coach stated. "In that moment where he hit those crucial kicks, he directed play remarkably well.

"One year earlier In my view George came on and played exceptionally well [versus the All Blacks].

"A kick hit the post and he tried a pressured drop-kick, yet he performed excellently.

"He is a phenomenal leader, an outstanding athlete and an even finer individual. We are privileged to include him on our team."

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

The Kiwis started quickly during the match, surging to a substantial early margin with tries by two key players.

After Lawrence's strong try, the fly-half's successive three-pointers ensured England entered the locker room with the momentum.

"The difficult aspect at those times occurs as the display indicates twelve to zero, we can stick to our plan and our philosophy the superior method to play the game is," Ford explained.

"We worked our way back into contention and we understood should we begin the second half well, with the bench coming on, we were in a good position.

"Despite having fifteen minutes to go, we ended up near our try line with a yellow card, so we had challenges in that instance too.

"In my opinion that represents international rugby involves - who can deal during those situations the best."

Each effort happened within a two-minute span as the fly-half who executed three drop-goals during a victory versus Argentina at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, showed all his century of caps experience.

Ford successfully executed two three-pointers with Sale in a league contest occurring during difficult conditions versus Bath - this represents an ability he has mastered thoroughly.

"The drop-kicks are consistently planned," Ford continued.

"Steve is such a phenomenal leader that he consistently in my ear about it, and rightly so as three points prove important during any phase of the game."

Ford marshalled his team superbly around the field all game, kicking smartly - for both attacking and defensive purposes and locating gaps in the opposition's territory.

His characteristic tactical bomb additionally troubled the opposing fullback, who couldn't collect.

Following his start in England's win over Australia on 1 November, Ford passed on the starting role to the younger Smith against Fiji seven days later.

However the greatest challenge in terms of difficulty 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, meet Argentina this month and curiosity remains to learn whether the coach returns to Fin Smith or persists with Ford.

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