Steve Borthwick came to power saying he wanted his England team to have a real go. “When they’re old and have no hair like me,” he told his audience, “I want them to not have regrets.”

What he had in mind was what unfolded at Twickenham in this Nations Championship clash. A record victory over Australia, capped by two tries from a flanker with bleached hair playing out of position on the wing.

Only, for the best part of four years, England supporters have seen no such thing. There have been zero trophies of note, few victories against sides ranked above them. The regrets have been piling up.

It led this week to a newspaper article claiming Borthwick’s players had lost faith in him over the summer and were unhappy at the way they were being treated.

On a chilly November afternoon, England’s players delivered a sharp response. “They were angry, they were furious,” observed the watching Ugo Monye. “They were challenged in a way they quite clearly didn’t like.”

“I wonder where that came from”

Seven tries, showcasing England’s power, ambition and, yes, fury, lit up Allianz Stadium and lifted the Red Rose nation into second spot behind France in the northern conference of this new competition.

“I wonder where that came from,” Jamie George answered sarcastically when asked about England’s record-breaking effort. “It [the article] was a distraction, but it brought us even tighter, gave us more motivation. 

“I’m unbelievably proud of the way the team looked after each other, stepped up for each other.”

Notwithstanding the fact that the Wallabies were unrecognisable from the team that beat world champions South Africa with 11 men only six weeks ago, this from England was the stuff of Borthwick’s dreams.

That February day back in 2023, he had talked of wanting his players to bring the very best of themselves on to the pitch. “I don’t want them looking back thinking ‘I wish I’d done this or I could have done that’.”

Here, finally, they were doing just that. Pushing the boundaries, stretching a top-seven rugby nation east and west and pouring through the holes. And nobody epitomised this joie de vivre more than Pollock.

“We now have to bear Henry Pollock saying playing on the wing is easy,” joked the boss. “We now have to bear Henry Pollock saying he can play anywhere on the pitch. He was excellent, and now we’ll hear a lot about it.”

Borthwick does not mind that one bit, of course. He was the one a year ago who spoke up for the Northampton tyro, saying rugby needs superstars. “In Britain we’re very good at cutting people down. We talk about tall poppy syndrome, well what rugby needs is taller poppies.”

Pollock is now delivering everything Borthwick wished from his team. He might still only have one start to his name but he has scored eight tries.

Having replaced the excellent, but injured, Manny Feyi-Waboso here at half-time, the 21-year-old struck twice in two minutes for tries on the wide outside.

He would have had his hat-trick had he won the race to the line after nut-megging Tom Wright in the cheeky way only he can. How Borthwick enjoyed that.

“Tell me what you need. Unless it’s tactically sensitive, the answer will be yes.”

The truth about the Cumbrian is that, away from the bright lights, he is not the dour operator he is often depicted as being. It is just when the pressure comes on – and there is no more pressurised job in world rugby – it does come across that way.

On tour with Argentina 16 months ago, I arrived in La Plata to be greeted in the hotel foyer by his smiling face and hand extended in welcome. “Tell me what you need,” he said. “Unless it’s tactically sensitive, the answer will be yes.”

He granted us access to the entirety of England’s main closed session in Test week, the first time in a decade or more any journalist had been admitted. There was a genuine desire for us, as well as the players and coaches in his charge, to gain from the touring experience.

“I want this to be the time of their lives,” he said, referring to his players. He meant it, and they know he has their best interests at heart, hence their emotional reaction here.

The challenge now for England is to deliver when they have not been provoked by an outside agency. When the motivation has to come from within. That is the true test of a growing side, and a year out from the World Cup, England need to pass it.

On this evidence, they should cruise into the semi-finals. Their draw is as easy as it could be. Tonga, Zimbabwe, Wales in the pool stages, then probably Italy followed by Australia in the quarter-finals.

Until today, the latter seemed a serious challenge, particularly with the Wallabies on home turf. On this evidence not so much. 

But England need to prove to themselves that this was no flash in the pan. They need to bring the same fire and fight and ambition to their game with New Zealand in a fortnight. 

Deliver against Dave Rennie’s men, and we will know this team is for real.