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In November 2024, national team playmaker George Ford looked disheartened during the match.

The replacement was brought on from the bench to assist the hosts secure a famous win facing the Kiwis, however was unable to score a late penalty along with a drop-kick as England lost by two points.

After those expensive errors, Ford needed to put in effort to secure another chance at delivering glory for the national side.

He saw just 25 minutes of action throughout the Six Nations tournament yet multiple strong showings, particularly on the summer matches against Argentina and the USA as Fin Smith and Marcus Smith had departed for British and Irish Lions duty, put him firmly back in the starting mix.

At 32 years old fully validated the coach's trust in starting him against the All Blacks, plus the club standout achieved a best-player showing to help England to their initial victory over New Zealand in their own stadium ending a drought dating to 2012.

The crucial point in the game Ford converted back-to-back drop-goals right before half-time.

It helped England recover from 12-0 down to reduce the margin to 12-11 at the break, prior to the coach's talented substitutes once more performed after halftime to assist the team to a decisive 33-19 victory.

"You have to give credit to the senior players in our team, especially George," the coach stated. "During that phase where he hit those drop-goals, he managed the game absolutely brilliantly.

"One year earlier In my view George substituted and competed very effectively [against New Zealand].

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

"He's an exceptional captain, an outstanding athlete and an even better person. We are fortunate to have him within our roster."

Drop-goals 'always in the plan'

New Zealand started quickly in the stadium, building a 12-point lead with tries by Fainga'anuku and Taylor.

After Lawrence's powerful finish, the fly-half's successive three-pointers ensured England returned to the changing rooms with psychological advantage.

"The tough part in those moments is, when the scoreboard says a twelve-point deficit, we must maintain to our strategy and our philosophy the best way to perform is," Ford said.

"We got ourselves back into contention and we understood were we to commence the second half well, with substitutes entering, we were in a favorable situation.

"Even with a quarter-hour remaining, we were positioned near our try line after a penalty, meaning we faced difficulties in that instance too.

"I believe this illustrates Test rugby is - which team can handle with those moments superiorly."

Both kicks occurred within close succession while the number 10 who successfully converted three crucial kicks in a successful match facing the Argentine team at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, demonstrated his full international experience.

Ford hit two drop-kicks representing Sale during a Premiership match played in challenging weather at Bath - this demonstrates a talent he has mastered thoroughly.

"It [the drop-goals] form part of our strategy," Ford added.

"The coach is such an incredible coach that he consistently in my ear about it, and appropriately since three points are crucial at any stage of competition."

Ford marshalled his team superbly around the field all game, kicking smartly - both to compete and in finding space against the defensive line.

His trademark high spiral kick also bamboozled the opposing fullback, who failed to regather.

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

But the biggest test in terms of difficulty occurred versus the multiple World Cup winners, and Ford reclaimed his spot.

The national side, now on a run of an unbeaten streak of ten, play against Argentina in late November and it will be interesting to discover if the manager opts to Fin Smith or maintains Ford.

Regardless of the selection, Ford demonstrated two years away before the World Cup that there is plenty of career ahead for him.