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During November 2024, England fly-half Ford looked disheartened during the match.

The replacement was brought on from the bench to support the home side complete a memorable triumph facing the Kiwis, yet missed a decisive kick plus a drop-goal attempt as England fell short in a close contest.

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

He saw just 25 minutes of action during this year's Six Nations however a series of impressive performances, especially during the summer tour against Argentina and the USA while Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were away on Lions tour commitments, put him firmly back among starting candidates.

At 32 years old not only repaid the coach's trust in starting him facing the Kiwis, plus the club standout produced a man-of-the-match display to support England to their initial victory against the All Blacks at home ending a drought dating to 2012.

The crucial point in the game Ford nailed back-to-back drop-goals immediately preceding halftime.

It helped England recover from 12-0 down to reduce the margin to 12-11 by halftime, ahead of the manager's skilled reserves repeatedly excelled after halftime to assist the team to a comfortable 33-19 victory.

"Recognition should be offered to the veteran members on our squad, particularly Ford," the coach stated. "In that moment when he converted those drop-kicks, he managed the game just incredibly.

"Twelve months ago I believed Ford substituted and competed very effectively [versus the All Blacks].

"One kick struck the post and he tried a difficult drop-goal, but he played really well.

"He is a phenomenal leader, a superb performer plus a better human being. We are honored to include him within our roster."

Drop-goals 'always in the plan'

The Kiwis started quickly in the stadium, surging to a substantial early margin with tries by Fainga'anuku and Taylor.

Subsequent to Ollie Lawrence's impressive score, Ford's back-to-back three-pointers ensured England bounced into the locker room with psychological advantage.

"The tough part during those periods is, when the scoreboard says twelve to zero, we are able to adhere to our guns and our convictions the optimal approach to compete is," Ford said.

"We fought our way back into the game and we understood if we started the latter half effectively, as reserves joined, we were in a good position.

"Although facing a quarter-hour remaining, we ended up near our try line following a card, thus we encountered obstacles there as well.

"In my opinion that represents international rugby involves - who manages best in those circumstances the best."

Each effort occurred within close succession as Ford who successfully converted three crucial kicks in a win facing the Argentine team during the 2023 World Cup, showed all his international experience.

Ford converted two three-pointers with Sale in a league contest played in tough circumstances versus Bath - this represents an ability he is well-practised in.

"These attempts form part of our strategy," Ford continued.

"Steve is such an incredible coach since he continually in my ear about it, and rightly so as three points is valuable throughout the match of the game."

Ford marshalled his team superbly throughout the match all game, kicking smartly - both to compete and in finding space behind the visitors' backfield.

His signature tactical bomb additionally troubled the opposing fullback, who failed to regather.

Having started the English victory versus the Wallabies on 1 November, Ford handed over the starting role to the younger Smith for the Fiji victory seven days later.

However the greatest challenge in terms of difficulty was presented by the experienced New Zealand team, with Ford regaining his position.

England, currently enjoying an unbeaten streak of ten, face Argentina on 23 November creating intrigue to learn whether the coach returns with the alternative or persists with Ford.

Whichever decision is made, Ford proved ahead of the next tournament prior to global competition that there is plenty of play remaining within him.