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In November 2024, England fly-half Ford appeared disappointed during the match.

He was called upon from the bench to assist the home side complete a famous win against New Zealand, yet missed a late penalty and drop-goal as England lost by two points.

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

His playing time was limited to 25 minutes throughout the Six Nations tournament but a string of strong showings, especially during the warm-weather tour against Argentina and the USA as Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were away on British and Irish Lions duty, reestablished him strongly among starting candidates.

The veteran player not only repaid Steve Borthwick's faith through his selection versus New Zealand, but the Sale Sharks playmaker achieved a best-player showing to support the hosts to a first win over New Zealand at home for the first time since 2012.

The decisive instant occurred as Ford successfully executed back-to-back drop-goals right before half-time.

This enabled the English overcome a 12-0 deficit to trail 12-11 when the half ended, before Borthwick's star-studded bench once more performed after halftime to help his side to a decisive 33-19 win.

"You have to give credit to the senior players on our squad, particularly Ford," Borthwick told. "In that moment as he scored those drop-goals, he controlled the match remarkably well.

"Twelve months ago I believed Ford came on and played very effectively [facing the Kiwis].

"A kick hit the post and he had a difficult drop-goal, but he played really well.

"He's an exceptional captain, an outstanding athlete and an even finer individual. We are honored to feature him on our team."

Drop-goals 'always in the plan'

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

Following Ollie Lawrence's impressive score, Ford's consecutive three-pointers ensured England returned to the halftime break with renewed energy.

"The tough part at those times is, when the scoreboard says 12-0, we must maintain to our strategy and our convictions the best way to compete is," Ford explained.

"We got ourselves back into the game and we recognized should we begin the final period strongly, as reserves joined, we found ourselves in a good position.

"Even with fifteen minutes to go, we were positioned on our own line after a penalty, thus we encountered obstacles in that instance too.

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

Each effort occurred within a two-minute span as the fly-half who executed three drop-kicks in a successful match versus Argentina in the last global tournament, showed all his 104-cap experience.

Ford hit two drop-kicks for Sale in a league contest played in challenging weather versus Bath - this represents an ability he has mastered thoroughly.

"These attempts is always in the plan," Ford added.

"The coach is such an incredible coach since he continually advising me, and appropriately since three points are crucial at any stage of competition."

Ford marshalled his team superbly around the field the complete contest, executing intelligent kicks - both to compete and identifying openings behind the visitors' backfield.

His characteristic high spiral kick also bamboozled Beauden Barrett, who failed to regather.

Having started the national team's triumph over Australia in early November, Ford relinquished the starting role to his replacement against Fiji seven days later.

However the greatest challenge on paper this autumn was presented by the three-time world champions, with Ford regaining his starting role.

England, now on a run of an unbeaten streak of ten, play against Argentina on 23 November and curiosity remains to discover if Borthwick goes back to Fin Smith or persists with Ford.

Whichever decision is made, Ford demonstrated two years away from a World Cup that ample opportunity of play remaining within him.