'England's worst Six Nations is an unfair reflection'

I knew England were going to deliver something in Paris the moment I watched the warm-up.

The intensity was there straight away. Everyone looked dialled in, focused and, most importantly, confident.

The messaging looked clear and the players looked like they believed in what they were about to do.

That was a big shift from their first defeat by Italy last weekend.

In that game, England went too kick-heavy and drifted away from what actually makes this team dangerous.

I said the players have to take some accountability for that and take control on the pitch.

In Paris you could see from the warm-up that the physicality and the mentality were going to be there.

But would they go out and play? Would they back themselves?

From the opening five minutes, they did exactly that. England knew that to beat France you have to score at least 40 points.

They scored 46 and still came up short, but I am incredibly proud of that performance.

Seven tries in the back-to-back Six Nations champions' own backyard is the blueprint to how this side should play.

The best teams have players who take ownership of their own destiny.

England did that in Paris and were only the finest of margins away from one of their great Six Nations wins.

Fine margins are often the difference between a title-winning side and one still building towards it.

Thomas Ramos' last-gasp penalty to win the championship for France came after a handful of moments England will replay in their minds for a while.

Henry Pollock did brilliantly to steal the ball late on but, instead of taking contact and securing it, he tried to move it and possession was lost.

Ollie Chessum might also look back and think he could have edged a little closer to the posts to make the kick easier for Fin Smith, who himself will be frustrated at leaving points out there.

Those are the moments you write down and burn into your memory, because when they come around again - and they always do in Test rugby - you want the instinct to be automatic.

The best teams make winning those moments a habit.

Just look at South Africa at the 2023 World Cup - three knockout wins by a single point.

That is not luck. That is a team that understand exactly how to manage pressure.

England had been through a sticky spell and this performance gives them something real to build on heading into the summer.

When this squad meet up again for the tour to South Africa, there should be a real sense of belief.

They have shown they can challenge the very best teams in the world. Now it is about learning how to close out those pressure moments when they come.

Another area that will need attention is opposition analysis.

France exposed England a couple of times in the first half with tries straight from set-piece starter plays.

At this level, that is inexcusable. Louis Bielle-Biarrey chasing on to kicks through is something France have done all championship.

Those details matter. Fix them, combine that with the intensity England showed in Paris, and suddenly you have a team not just competing with the best, but capable of beating the best.

One victory makes it statistically England's worst Six Nations campaign in history, but that is an unfair reflection of where this team actually are.

Statistics only tell part of the story. In some ways, they have almost held England back, particularly when you look at how the team have been set up at times.

It does not feel right to simply label this as "the worst England team ever" because the numbers say so.

At the top level there is only so much you can read into statistics.

If England had picked up two or three more wins in slightly scrappy fashion, the numbers would look a lot healthier.

But what we have also seen are two genuinely high-level performances against Wales and France that showed just how high the ceiling of this side can be.

And it is worth remembering that this group also put together a 12-game winning run not that long ago.

However, there are still valid questions.

You can ask why they produced the performance they did against Ireland earlier in the tournament, and why they did not respond quickly enough after losing to Scotland.

If England revert to the kind of approach they showed against Italy when they face South Africa, head coach Borthwick will rightly face criticism.

But the management now have a clearer picture of how this England team should play.

Understanding the flow of games - when to control things and when to attack - is incredibly valuable.

Now it is about the players taking ownership - like in Paris - and carrying it forward.

A lot of England's performance was built around a vintage display from Maro Itoje.

It felt like the Itoje of old - the one who was picking up man-of-the-match awards almost every week for a couple of seasons. He looked completely locked in, and when he plays like that the whole team tend to follow.

Alongside him, Ellis Genge, Ollie Chessum, Alex Coles, Ben Earl and Tommy Freeman followed his lead and put in huge shifts.

The physical tone had to be set to compete with France - and England absolutely did that.

There had been some questions around Itoje's campaign coming into the game.

Fitness issues, personal circumstances and the challenge of trying to lead a side that had been short on confidence at times all raised doubts about his inclusion.

But I never doubted he would respond.

He stepped up as an inspirational leader and showed exactly why he is England captain.

Yes, he conceded the crucial late penalty, but in many ways that also summed up his performance by trying to impose himself to secure a famous win.

If England are to have any chance at the 2027 World Cup, an in-form Itoje, who is still learning his trade as an international captain, is absolutely pivotal.

Matt Dawson was speaking to BBC Sport's Alastair Telfer.