Steve Borthwick earned England’s 26-25 win over France – it was far more than luck as his risk-taking paid off, now they must back it up starting against Scotland, writes CHRIS FOY

Who dares wins. The SAS motto summed up England’s feat on Saturday – and not just because they came under heavy fire, but still accomplished their mission with a lethal lightning strike.

The signature slogan of the elite special forces unit applied to their head coach too. Steve Borthwick had been doing the daring part, but the winning was eluding him. That changed in a pulsating climax to Le Crunch. 

England battled for one last shot, then took it. Their execution was supreme and Elliot Daly delivered the killer finish, before Fin Smith’s conversion sealed a Six Nations upset.

There is no question that the hosts escaped to victory. France gift-wrapped this result and handed it to their cross-Channel rivals with a bow on, but the English still had to seize the offering and they did so with aplomb. It could be a turning point. Time will tell.

Borthwick had earned a lucky break at last, he really had. Amid all the justified complaints about his team’s stalled progress – after a 2024 return of seven defeats in 12 Tests, then a losing start to this championship campaign in Dublin – the embattled man in charge kept making bold calls. Now, he has a reward for to show for the risk-taking. Fortune favours the brave and all that.

With his back to the wall and knowing the stakes were sky-high, Borthwick went for broke by naming Fin Smith at 10 for his first start and shifting Marcus Smith to full-back. He also picked Tom Willis for a full debut, after a couple of bench cameos. The plan paid off. What an unexpected jackpot.

Beneath the dour persona he presents to the world, Borthwick has repeatedly demonstrated true courage as a selector. Before uniting the Smiths, he had relocated Marcus to 15 before the World Cup and then repeated the ploy during the tournament, when everything was on the line. He fast-tracked Chandler Cunningham-South, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Fin Baxter and Asher Opoku-Fordjour last year. He let Ben Earl loose in midfield.

More recently, he made a tough captaincy call, by taking the role off the popular, passionate Jamie George and entrusting Maro Itoje with the responsibility. Despite some misgivings about the timing, it was regarded as a shrewd attempt to change the narrative around his team.

For so long, Borthwick couldn’t catch a break, as the setbacks stacked up. Marcus Smith’s lapses off the tee proved costly against the All Blacks in Dunedin, then George Ford agonisingly missed shots at glory against the same opponents in November, before a botched re-start let the Wallabies twist the knife in English wounds seven days later. The national team became near-miss specialists, losing by single-figure margins; two, one, seven, two, five, nine and five. Groundhog Day agonies.

So, only the most ardent sceptic – and they haven’t vanished yet – would begrudge Borthwick this moment, as the miserable cycle was broken in dramatic fashion. France were like a champion golfer who suddenly succumbed to the putting ‘yips’. Even Antoine Dupont unravelled.

It was surreal to watch. They couldn’t catch a cold. Thomas Ramos was abject. These are superstars. Put them in Toulouse or Bordeaux shirts and they are super-human. But at Twickenham, they were comically awful. Almost 10 million French people watched the game on TV back at home and most of them must have been cowering behind the sofa long before the end. It was a horror show.

Even England’s escape act contained a hint of good fortune, as the outstanding Alex Mitchell kicked towards the visitors’ 22 on the left and the ball bounced awkwardly, which wrong-footed Ramos and led to him conceding a breakdown penalty. From there, the trigger was pulled expertly; lineout catch and drive, Mitchell to Ollie Lawrence, drag-back pass to Fin Smith, slight delay then he picked out Daly’s run for the gap, to leave Dupont flailing and beaten.

But it was about far more than luck. England’s bench did its job this time. The replacements added final-quarter impetus; which has been lacking so often in the barren months. George was superb, as was Ollie Chessum. Fin Baxter scored a driving try. Joe Heyes slammed into collisions with gusto. The cavalry brought energy and power and nous, but Borthwick didn’t pre-plan it all, so he trusted what he saw and left Mitchell on until the end. Wise move.

So much of the post-match focus was on the playmakers, but just as significant was the novelty of a balanced England back row eclipsing vaunted Gallic rivals. For the second week in a row, Tom Curry was imperious – right back at the peak of his powers. Sale’s relentless flanker was the real Player of the Match, despite an official verdict to the contrary.

Earl produced a dynamic, 80-minute performance because he was freed up to do so by the presence of Tom Willis, to provide a direct carrying outlet and abrasive presence. Then Ben Curry joined the rear-guard action and helped Earl win the decisive final penalty. Everyone contributed and it just worked as intended. All bases were covered.

Of course, now the crucial task is to back this up. England have snapped the losing run, fuelled by defiance and desperation, to maintain a pattern of performing best when they have been written off. But it will be difficult to preserve a siege mentality when there is praise in the air around them again, so alternative driving forces will be required to propel them towards the Calcutta Cup clash with Scotland on February 22. Footage of defeats in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 should do the trick.

What next in terms of selection? Borthwick will need to keep making bold, tough calls. He must decide – broadly – if it is best to maintain a horses-for-courses formula or retain the combinations which served him well against France. Another stick-or-twist dilemma looms.

Fin Smith will hope to keep the No 10 shirt after overcoming the nerves that left him – in his own words – playing like a ‘rabbit in the headlights’, to orchestrate the late surge to victory and kick the winning points. But Marcus Smith can’t be discounted, despite some errors as he strove to ignite a comeback. 

He remains a valuable X-factor asset, but when George Furbank is fit again, the full-back place will be up for grabs and the influential Northampton back-line contingent could grow.

If a precious win translates into fresh momentum, a title challenge is within England’s reach. But for now, this was a result to provide breathing space for a regime which needed tangible proof to go with all the claims of progress.

As RFU board and council members filed out to waiting coaches on Saturday night, there was an air of collective relief and good cheer, despite the turmoil which has engulfed the union of late. England winning can’t solve all the game’s ills and issues, but their highs and lows disproportionately dictate the mood of the sport in this country. Victory over France – who had been such overwhelming favourites before kick-off – should have a positive ripple effect.

As for Borthwick, it is as if he was sitting at a roulette table (as hard as that may be to imagine), all but out of chips, and someone has dumped a fresh pile in front of him, so he can keep gambling as the wheel keeps spinning. The head coach earned this good fortune. It wasn’t a complete, emphatic transformation; one fine result to avert more pain – but it was a start, a step and a shaft of light, to reignite faded English hope.