After a tense week and sub-par year, England needed a fierce performance against Australia. They unequivocally delivered in every area.

This was the strongest hand that Steve Borthwick could have played against a Wallabies side that has shown signs of green shoots under Les Kiss, but the hosts dismantled the men in gold to lift an eerily quiet Twickenham.

Every England player justified their selection, but the one who I was most impressed with was Fin Smith, who produced an excellent display at fly-half and left his fingerprints all over the side’s fast-flowing attack.

Henry Pollock’s second-half cameo on the wing – made negligibly easier by Australia’s mediocre defence – will no doubt grab the headlines. But I am reserving most of the plaudits for Smith, who came into his own as a playmaker.

Match momentum was firmly on the Wallabies’ side heading into this high-stakes clash for England, who were returning to Twickenham for the first time since their miserable Six Nations defeat by Ireland last February. There were fears that their connections would not click, but Smith’s link-up play with his outside backs, particularly Seb Atkinson, who was also magnificent in the 12 channel, proved too hot for the Wallabies to handle.

At times it looked as though the pair were playing in their club jerseys, such was the heads-up rugby they played. The challenge has always been for England’s players to mirror their free-flowing attack on show in the Prem at Test level, and against Australia the duo could hardly have achieved that any better. Borthwick has always faced the moral dilemma of picking players on form versus familiarity, but Smith’s partnership with Atkinson is developing strongly after an impressive summer together.

There was a moment in the first half when Smith twice swept up on the Wallabies attack with consecutive tackles – a task you would not associate with his skill-set or position – just as Tommy Freeman was winning breakdown penalties.

There was so much to admire about his performance. From getting around the corner from set-piece plays and squaring up the third or fourth defender, to his distribution for his wings and his full-back, George Furbank. It was because of his vision, awareness and execution that England’s backs had a field day. Smith was a key piece of the jigsaw for Jack van Poortvliet’s try when England took it up a gear after the break, pulling the ball back to Furbank and bypassing a forward pod of Fin Baxter, Ben Curry and Jamie George, which left Australia’s defence at sixes and sevens and allowed Freeman to blitz down his wing.

Moments later, when England’s forwards were finding no joy assaulting the Wallabies’ try-line, he had the intuition to spot a loitering Pollock out wide for his first score. His looped pass was almost sniffed out, but without risk, there is no reward.

If this was a boxing match, then England pulled all the right punches from the start and looked in control. Against static gold shirts it was so easy – perhaps too easy – for Smith to find an edge. Atkinson held the centre of the pitch superbly and demonstrated his own box of tricks, while the fly-half looked as though he was having an armchair ride and kept the back line ticking. England all looked as though they were singing from the same song sheet and the sight of Smith, Atkinson and Furbank when the side was on the counter was eye-catching.

That said, Max Jorgensen’s intercept try before half-time – the only line break that England conceded in the first 40 minutes – was a timely reminder that Borthwick’s side are far from the finished product. A lapse in concentration from Van Poortvliet, who did not do much wrong all game, gave the visitors a lifeline.

I have purposely bigged up Smith, but it would be remiss of me not to mention Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s brilliance. The winger was the instigator of England’s attacking superiority before the break. The Exeter man was an American football running back disguised in an England jersey, his acrobatic swan dive for his disallowed try in the opening seconds setting the tone for a gladiatorial performance.

He was an omnipresent threat around the park and looked incredibly dangerous, not only in open space but up the short side too. But his ability to create something from nothing, as he showed with his scurrying run in the build-up for Ollie Chessum’s try, also stood out. Even off the ball, his positioning was crucial, sucking in two defenders as Furbank looped a pass over to Chessum for England’s second try.

By the time Pollock scored twice in quick succession from the wing, Australia capitulated like their cricket team on the last day of the third Test in South Africa.

What was most pleasing about Smith’s performance was how he played his game. There has been so much talk about who should hold the keys to No 10 with England, but the Northampton man has emphatically shown it should be him.