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During November 2024, national team playmaker George Ford looked disheartened on the Allianz Stadium turf.

The replacement was brought on from the bench to help the home side secure a famous win against New Zealand, but instead missed a late penalty along with a drop-kick as England lost by a narrow margin.

In the wake of those pivotal failures, Ford had to work hard to get another shot to bring victory to the English team.

He saw just 25 minutes of action throughout the Six Nations tournament however a series of impressive performances, notably in the warm-weather tour of Argentina and the United States as Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were absent for Lions tour commitments, reestablished him strongly among starting candidates.

The 32-year-old not only repaid the manager's confidence through his selection facing the Kiwis, plus the club standout produced a man-of-the-match display to assist England to a breakthrough triumph against the All Blacks in their own stadium since 2012.

The pivotal moment occurred as Ford converted consecutive drop-kicks just before the break.

This enabled the English recover from 12-0 down to reduce the margin to 12-11 by halftime, ahead of the manager's skilled reserves repeatedly excelled during the final period to assist the team to a convincing 33-19 victory.

"You have to give credit to the veteran members on our squad, notably George," the manager commented. "That period where he hit those drop-kicks, he controlled the match remarkably well.

"Last year 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, but he played really well.

"He's an exceptional captain, a superb performer and an even better person. We are privileged to have him on our team."

Drop-kicks 'consistently planned'

The Kiwis began rapidly at Allianz Stadium, surging to a twelve-point advantage through scores from Leicester Fainga'anuku and Codie Taylor.

After Lawrence's impressive score, the fly-half's successive drop-goals ensured England returned to the changing rooms with the momentum.

"The difficult aspect in those moments is, when the scoreboard says twelve to zero, we are able to adhere to our guns and what we believe the optimal approach to compete is," Ford explained.

"We got ourselves back into it and we understood if we started the final period strongly, with the bench coming on, we found ourselves in an advantageous spot.

"Although facing fifteen minutes to go, we ended up on our own line after a penalty, so we had challenges during that phase also.

"In my opinion that represents elite competition requires - who can deal during those situations superiorly."

Each effort came within a two-minute span as Ford who executed three crucial kicks in a successful match against Argentina in the last global tournament, displayed his complete 104-cap experience.

Ford hit two drop-goals for Sale in a league contest conducted in challenging weather against Bath - this represents an ability he has extensively practiced.

"It [the drop-goals] are consistently planned," Ford added.

"Steve is such an outstanding manager that he consistently in my ear about it, and appropriately as three points are crucial during any phase of play."

Ford directed his team superbly throughout the match the complete contest, kicking smartly - both in contestable situations and in finding space behind the visitors' backfield.

His characteristic 'spiral bomb' also bamboozled the New Zealand player, who failed to regather.

After beginning the national team's triumph over Australia on 1 November, Ford passed on the number 10 jersey to the younger Smith for the Fiji victory seven days later.

Yet the most significant examination on paper this autumn was presented by the experienced New Zealand team, with Ford regaining his position.

The English team, now on a run of 10 straight wins, face Argentina in late November creating intrigue to determine whether the coach returns for the younger Smith or persists with Ford.

Whatever choice occurs, Ford proved ahead of the next tournament from a World Cup that there is plenty of career ahead in him.