FRANCE...24 ENGLAND...21: Six Nations' tables, as Clive Woodward reiterated yesterday, rarely lie. France are the deserved Grand Slam champions of Europe while the indomitable England of four months ago have parked their creaking chariot in a mid-table cul-de-sac, their worst championship finish for 11 years.
Somewhere en route the stirring song lines of Sydney have got lost in translation.
If finishing below the Irish and French is not the end of the world, neither is there any respite on the horizon with Woodward's men committed to further heavyweight bouts in Dunedin, Auckland and Brisbane this summer.
Perhaps the most telling weekend reaction came from France's coach Bernard Laporte, clearly relishing the turn-around. "I had messages from the coaches of New Zealand and Australia wanting us to beat the English. Everybody is fed up of England winning . . . we have given pleasure to the whole world."
Woodward's first act, nevertheless, has been to resist lunging for the panic button. Lawrence Dallaglio, having presided over what his coach described as a "poor" collective Six Nations effort, has already been reappointed as captain for the June tour and the coach is also keen to retain a healthy sense of perspective.
"It doesn't take anything off the World Cup; it's been a disappointment, no more than that. I still think we'll go down to New Zealand and win."
That may be but refurbishing ageing Test teams is a tricky business and Saturday night's feverish late surge could not prevent England being beaten at their own game. Not only did the boys in blue hoist a trophy aloft at the end but they also played like England in disguise: unyielding up front, swift to punish mistakes in opposing territory, pragmatic to a fault. It may have been as traditionally French as a Cumberland sausage but Laporte has clearly found a post-World Cup recipe to his taste.
In the cold light of a fine Parisian morning Woodward also knew this floodlit mugging could have been far worse.
At 21-3 down at half-time England were "staring down the barrel", to quote Dallaglio, their rejigged defensive system exposed by a cross-kick try to the outrageously athletic Imanol Harinordoquy and an inspired blindside dart from the man of the match, Dimitri Yachvili, who also kicked four penalties and a conversion.
Not until Ben Cohen and Josh Lewsey profited from second-half French turnovers did they remotely look like outwitting their hosts.
Even having fought back to within three points, English players kicked determinedly for touch as if forgetting France had lost only one lineout throw all night. If the home side had not secured a fourth Grand Slam in eight seasons - their captain Fabien Pelous and flanker Olivier Magne have featured in all four campaigns - it would have been the steal of the century.
So have England been architects of their own misfortune or victims of circumstance? They were certainly unlucky that Danny Grewcock, their most vigorous forward of late, lasted only 23 stiff minutes before departing with a bad back, but they were again second best in too many areas. As against Ireland, they created little behind the scrum, lost the tactical kicking duel and saw their back row outshone by familiar foes, in this case Magne, Harinordoquy and Serge Betsen.
Woodward believes a lack of post-World Cup training sessions was among the "short cuts" that precipitated England's downturn but a guarantee of 16 squad days outside Test weeks next season will not prevent a selectorial spring-clean. That means some younger faces on the summer tour - the Leeds scrumhalf Clive Stuart-Smith, his Bath counterpart Martyn Wood and Sale's hooker Andy Titterrell are leading contenders.
England supporters banking on Jonny Wilkinson's swift return should, meanwhile, brace themselves for more disappointment.
"The medical advice I'm seeing is there's no way he'll be able to play for Newcastle in the Powergen Cup final next month and he'll only go on tour if he's 100 per cent fit," stressed Woodward.
"Lawrence will be there as captain and I fully expect every other player who's fit to be there as well," warned Woodward. "I don't believe in bringing people back. Once you move on you move on."
A new era has dawned, like it or not.
FRANCE: N Brusque; P Elhorga, Y Jauzion, D Traille, C Dominici; F Michalak, D Yachvili; S Marconnet, W Servat, P De Villiers, F Pelous (capt), P Pape, S Betsen, O Magne, I Harinordoquy. Replacements: Y Bru (for Servat, 53 mins); C Poitrenaud (for Jauzion, 57 mins); J-J Crenca (for Marconnet, 72 mins); D Auradou (for Pelous, 76 mins). Tries: Harinordoquy, Yachvili. Con: Yachvili. Pens: Yachvili 4.
ENGLAND: J Robinson; J Lewsey, W Greenwood, M Tindall, B Cohen; O Barkley, M Dawson; T Woodman, S Thompson, P Vickery, D Grewcock, B Kay, J Worsley, R Hill, L Dallaglio (capt). Replacements: S Borthwick (for Grewcock, 23 mins); M Catt (for Greenwood, 47 mins); J White (for Vickery, 64 mins). Tries: Cohen, Lewsey. Con: Barkley. Pens: Barkley 3.
Referee: A Rolland (Ireland).
