The England forwards delivered a lesson in rugby realpolitik against France, according to The Guardian's Richard Williams.
"This was not a day for the swallow-divers, who found themselves shunted aside. Instead it was one for the grinders and tunnellers, the labourers at the workface. By giving Twickenham a lesson in rugby realpolitik as they took revenge for a narrow defeat in Paris last year, England delighted those who disdain the fripperies.
"The bigger the game, the more it's about the win," Martin Johnson said. "The biggest game of all, no one cares how you win it."
"On the eve of the match, and with all attention focused on Chris Ashton, the four-try hero of that delirious win over Italy a fortnight earlier, Nick Easter had expressed his envy of the French rugby public's willingness to recognise the value of forwards by turning them into heroes. None of England's supporters in the 81,000 crowd on Saturday would have left the precincts in any doubt about who had inflicted this important defeat on France.
"Ben Foden gave England the only try of the afternoon with a powerful surge, and Jonny Wilkinson came on to complete the winning margin by landing a majestic 45‑metre penalty with his first touch, but the stars of the day were the men in the boilerhouse. Not just the gnarled veterans, but faces as new and fresh as those to be found behind the scrum and in the back three."
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