The noise at the end said it all and it is hard to remember a roar quite like that from the Twickenham faithful.
You can hardly blame them, either. England fans have waited a long time for a win like this and the cheers at the end must have, in part, been fuelled by relief.
With five minutes to go, it looked like this was going to be the same old story for Steve Borthwick’s side. Louis Bielle-Biarrey went over in the corner and England looked set to lose yet another tight game in the dying moments.
Then on came Elliot Daly, who will be the toast of Twickenham tonight. Borthwick may call it an inspired substitution, but perhaps this was Lady Luck finally giving this England side the slice of it they have been missing.
Either way, minutes after coming on, Daly was scything through the France defence and going under the post after Fin Smith had set him through. It was a slick move that capped off an outstanding first start by Fin Smith.
The 22-year-old excelled at fly-half and it was fitting that it was his conversion which secured a 26-25 victory for England. On this evidence, Fin Smith won’t be giving up the No10 shirt for a while and, if this is to be a turning point for England, surely he will have a big part to play in the future.
It was a shaky start from England and Fin Smith, though, who had a kick charged down in the first minute. Henry Slade missed touch from a penalty and then Ellis Genge was offside, which gave France a shot at tackling the lead.
Thomas Ramos put the penalty wide, however, and that summed up France’s opening 40 minutes. They were uncharacteristically sloppy, with both Antoine Dupont and Damian Penaud wasting good chances by knocking the ball on at the vital moment.
England, as they were during the first half in Dublin last week, were dogged in defensive. Tom Curry was a menace at the breakdown and it meant that, after half an hour, the game was still pointless.
France changed that in the blink of an eye. A loose pass from Will Stuart gave them the chance to attack in broken play and they took full advantage. Dupont was at the heart of it, before Penaud’s perfectly-weighted kick was finished by fellow wing Bielle-Biarrey.
It was no more than France deserved, but England rallied to hit back before the break. A series of attacks on the French try line eventually saw them cave and Ollie Lawrence went over after a brutal hand-off on Ramos.
France came out firing for the second half, but they continued to be sloppy and they would finish the game with 27 handling errors. This time it was hooker Peato Mauvaka dropping the ball when the try line was closing in. Two Ramos penalties put France ahead and they looked in control.
England, however, looked threatening in attack and an audacious kick from Fin Smith in France’s 22 was claimed by Tommy Freeman to make it 12-13 with 20 minutes to go.
Marcus Smith missed the conversion, and another missed penalty from him later saw him stripped of kicking duties. So often Marcus Smith has been the star at Twickenham - but this was Fin Smith’s day.
France did their best to stop him, with Penaud and Bielle-Biarrey both going over. Fin Baxter’s try was sandwiched in between that, before Daly’s heroics won it for England at the death.
At the full-time whistle, some England players hugged each other and others just sank to the floor. After weeks of painful defeats, this was a win to savour.
