Ben Foden's try helps Martin Johnson's bright young things pass their biggest test yet and put down a World Cup marker
Nobody likes them, but they don't care. Neither the stereotypical antipathy of France's coach, Marc Li�vremont, nor a fierce first-half Gallic assault could halt England's revival here as Martin Johnson's team closed in on a first Six Nations title since 2003.
A law of top-level sport is that you find out how good you really are when the opposition drive a dump truck through your nice long-term development plan. Then the praise stops, errors multiply and the world goes dark. Can't cope with physical pressure? Go home, find another job.
England endured and prospered as a Ben Foden try and Jonny Wilkinson penalty after the interval drove them to a 17-9 victory. All teams can trace a moment when promise turned to reality and in a World Cup year England may remember this clash as the day they became contenders in New Zealand.
"It's the sign of a team that's progressing when you can get into the dressing room at half-time and have a quiet, controlled talk and sort it out," said the captain, Mike Tindall.
Johnson said: "No one lost their confidence from what happened in the first half; we made the adjustments. It shows the maturity of the team. It was a good win."
Johnson, the team manager, spoke of "good fundamentals", but it was a lot more entertaining than that. In a "ferocious" match of "fight and graft" (Johnson again), Li�vremont came to regret goading the home side with his pre-match assertion: "We all don't like the English."
"They are the best team in the northern hemisphere and the path to the grand slam is open for them," the France coach said, restoring the entente cordiale.
The new England have been taken to the edge twice since Johnson found half a dozen fresh young cavaliers to shake up a team built in Steve Borthwick's stolid image. South Africa were the first to sniff vulnerability, in the autumn internationals, and exploited it brutally, reversing the momentum of England's brilliant win over Australia. Then France turned up at Twickenham intent on harassing Johnson's men all the way back to school.
Pressure messes up the mental pathways. For 40 minutes England were hustled into playing too fast and loose and without discipline. The conservatism of France's selection ? Dimitri Yachvili at scrum-half, a back row built for containment ? was paying dividends. Li�vremont used the Springbok template of shutting down space and time, hustling England in the set pieces and smashing into Johnson's ball-carriers with rib?rearranging force.
The most telegenic of these ram-raids was when Thierry Dusautoir crunched Dylan Hartley three minutes before the interval. The England hooker folded on impact and spilled the ball. By then Andrew Sheridan had limped off, proving again that the bottom half of big Ted's body struggles to carry the top. After 50 minutes, Toby Flood was off, too, as Wilkinson trotted on to strike his 1,189th point ? thus surpassing New Zealand's Dan Carter at the top of the all-time list. Flood is expected to be fit for the Scotland game.
At 9-9 England burst back out of the dressing room determined to regain the initiative. Their progress has been built on spirit, audacity, outshining the opposition, and they hurt France in the most constructive way, with a bold attacking move culminating in a Foden try.
Then came the best lesson possible in the perils of the swallow dive. With England five points clear, Chris Ashton, the finisher-in-chief, missed a forward pass by Flood to Ben Youngs and steamed towards the tryline, where he launched himself with arm outstretched at 45 degrees and then dropped, triumphant, not realising the referee had halted play. It is one thing to prematurely celebrate a try when the thing has been given, but a whole different caper when a swallow dive marks a nonevent.
Then, you see the presumption, the self-inflation. Not that it matters much. For years we have grumbled about the sterility of English play: the devotion to bump and grind. We can hardly object if a new talent arrives from outside the safe southern heartland and greets a good moment joyously.
The bigger question, though, was whether an English renaissance was being declared too hastily. This win, following those over Wales and Italy, confirms the authenticity of the rebirth. Scotland, here at Twickenham in a fortnight, and Ireland, in Dublin on 19 March, stand between the English and their first grand slam since their World Cup-winning year. The Aviva Stadium will offer a forbidding test (assuming Scotland have been beaten) but England already know they can walk through fire to an important win.
Most important is winning the Six Nations title itself for the first time in eight years. England's long spell in the wilderness has been embarrassing. They promise to leave it with a team of much creative talent. The French will like them even less now.
Johnson refused to discuss grand slam possibilities. He said: "No. Why? It's ridiculous. If you want to talk about winning something you do it after the last game." He must be dreaming.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/feb/26/england-france-six-nations
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