LONG READ Mick Cleary: 'England are back in the fight, no longer the object of scorn.'

It was Keystones Cops rugby, Bonkers Bedlam rugby, all over the place. It certainly shredded nerves. A barmy day in south-west London ended with balm of another kind being applied, soothing English souls troubled by so many past defeats.

As Valetine’s Day approaches, it was a good time for England to give the Twickenham faithful a reason to fall back in love with them again. Bunch of flowers? How many do you want? Box of chocolates? A lorryload, please. Sweet nothings in the ear? Oh, go on then. Enjoy it while you can, England.

They know only too well that this could have gone the other way. Should have gone the other way? Yes, probably. But sport ain’t like that. England have been on the wrong end of close defeats too often to give sympathy to the opposition. (Let another Englishman, Shaun Edwards, do that for us instead. Can’t imagine Shaun’s offerings will be too dainty). The scoreboard has been a damning witness to English travails too often to cut anyone any slack.

And England had scarce any breath left after such a pounding contest to offer any of that patronising claptrap to the French side in their own misery chamber at the final whistle: ‘Sorry, good game’.  It wasn’t, actually. Or not a classic in terms of fabulous skills being crisply executed. Bar that last-gasp clincher from Daly.  But it was gripping and absorbing throughout. From how-many-more-tries-can-France butcher to Wow-what-a-winner!

Steve Borthwick’s men know all too well that the demons of defeat have not necessarily been banished for good. But they have been put in their box for now. Just as those narrow losses in the autumn could not be conveniently airbrushed away, so too this victory, against the grain but deserved as to how it was achieved, can stand as a reference point for what is to come for this group.

Another defeat and Borthwick’s role would have come under sharp and merited scrutiny. Eight consecutive losses to Tier One teams. A win ratio in the mid 40 percenters.

Another defeat and they would have questioned themselves no matter what their public utterances might have been. Another defeat and Borthwick’s role would have come under sharp and merited scrutiny. Eight consecutive losses to Tier One teams. A win ratio in the mid 40 percenters. France racking up their best return of victories over England in close to 50 years. All that stuff is not peripheral. All that so-called white noise has legitimacy. International sport is not about fun and games. It matters. (Well, in the moment of ‘this magnificent triviality, ‘ as a former colleague, the great Hugh McIlvanney, described this sporting life.)

Even in defeat, we knew that Borthwick’s team had guts and toughness and resilience and all those well-aired English virtues but they were not bringing due return. England were running out of puff after 60 minutes. Their bench brought only confusion and muddle, not energy and precision, more hindrance than help. Here it was different, so, so different. Fin Baxter, even though he conceded a penalty at his first game, grew and stretched as he dotted down for a try. Ollie Chessum packed a punch, Jamie George looked unburdened for the first time in ages while the maligned Daly did as he did in Cardiff several years ago in being in the right place at the right time, clever and attentive, to pick the right line and have the pace to get the job done. Simples, eh? All part of the Grand Plan, eh?

Well, fair play to Steve Borthwick whose face at the final whistle wore the same impassive expression that it always does. Kipling’s twin’ IF’ imposters ‘triumph and disaster’ have permanent residence in the England head coach. Borthwick could be getting the keys to the Kingdom of Pleasure or a hefty VAT bill and you would never know the difference.

He won’t be getting carried away. But his players should. Well, for 24 hours. Wins need to be celebrated. Scotland are headed their way and there will be no gimmes on that front as they know only too well after four tartan Calcutta Cup successes in a row.

Are England now contenders? That’s fanciful yet mathematically plausible given not just this win but also the two bonus points they have picked up over the opening weekends.

But this England will always have their Bogart Casablanca moment, Twickenham on a grey, drizzly early February’s day to store away in the memory bank. Eddie Jones reckoned on pitchside duties for ITV – and thank goodness it wasn’t the Beeb’s taxpayers’ money being wasted on his fee for much of what he said was dull or deflective – that this could be a ‘breakthrough game,’ for England. On that alone, he might be right. Although, hang on, England beat Ireland here at Twickenham last year but didn’t kick on.

At least England are back in the fight, no longer the object of scorn. Their previous efforts had amounted to little tangible. They kept losing and until that monkey was off their back and given a hefty strangling to keep it quiet, then they would have remained an example of pitiful underachievement.

Are they now contenders? That’s fanciful yet mathematically plausible given not just this win but also the two bonus points they have picked up over the opening weekends. Stranger things have been known to happen. But that’s for another day.

What is clear is that Borthwick’s selection conundrum at fly-half has been resolved. That’s tough on Marcus Smith who did so many good things in his eight starts in the No.10 shirt but he didn’t manage to get the team over the line. Even his goal-kicking went horrible awry on Saturday even if he himself had an okay game with lots of metres (131) made. Fin Smith didn’t look to the manor born in the initial stages, didn’t nail down the position through majesty and brilliance but he most certainly did enough, particularly as the game wore on, to persuade you that the shirt is now his to lose. The Northampton man will only get better, more assured and influential in what he does , and there were clear signs that he also, crucially, gets the best out of those around him.

There were other heartening aspects for England. Tom Curry delivered a monstrous performance in the back-row. Lions head coach, Andy Farrell, has more chance of solving the Riddle of the Sphinx than he has of working out who is his best No.7 for the test team.

And Marcus Smith? It’s tough, bloody tough. Bu he is not an international full-back. Nor has he ever claimed to be. He can do a job there, as has done before and as he did on Saturday, but there is no long-term viability in him at full-back. He is no Thomas Ramos or Blair Kinghorn or Hugo Keenan. He knows it and the opposition know it. It will become a weak link in any England renaissance. The defeat of France is a big gain for Fin Smith. For Marcus Smith, it is a sliding door moment, one that is closing fast. On such margins.

There were other heartening aspects for England. Tom Curry delivered a monstrous performance in the back-row. Lions head coach, Andy Farrell, has more chance of solving the Riddle of the Sphinx than he has of working out who is his best No.7 for the test team – Curry, Rory Darge, Jac Morgan or Josh Van Flier (or Jack Willis for that matter). There was enough bump and grind in the go-forward play of Jack’s brother, Tom, to indicate that he should be a regular in that No.8 slot. Ben Earl also showed up well, bloomin’ well.

The scrum was stable, no mean feat against the French, but the lineout was shaky. That can, at least, be put to rights.

Alex Mitchell was far sharper in his second outing since injury while his Saints’ teammate, Tommy Freeman, showed what attitude and spring heels can lend to an attack, winning a crucial re-start and leaping high over Louis Bielle-Biarrey for a well-constructed try.

On another day, of course, France might well have won by a dozen points or more. Instead they slipped back to that cliché of other times, fabulous but fickle, making handling errors, spurning chances and even reducing Antoine Dupont to mere mortal status. Le Collapse in Le Crunch.

But that’s the Six Nations for you. Never dull. Never disappointing. Rarely predictable (Wales’ woes notwithstanding). And there is plenty more to come. It’s the right time of year for the love affair with the Championship to be re-affirmed.