Until Clive Woodward's post-match temper started to fray, Saturday was as close to ideal as England could have wished. It is almost two decades since they last stitched together successive Test wins against the Wallabies, and retaining the Cook Cup at the world champions' expense was the perfect response to the rolling-pin across the head they collected in Dublin last month.
Jason Robinson, handling the media as deftly as he gathered every high ball, put it best.
"It would feel good to beat Australia at darts," said England's new full back, sidestepping the question of whether it was more satisfying to beat Wallabies or Kangaroos. In modern professional sport, hitting the bullseye against any Australia team is as good as it gets.
All of which made Woodward's bitter tone the more unnecessary. With his opponents already conceding they had been outplayed by a markedly superior pack of forwards, it simply required a broad smile and a hint of modesty and the England manager could have strolled away to universal acclaim.
Instead, provoked by Rob Andrew's pre-match comments that Robinson might not be up to his new role, and a matter-of-fact inquiry as to whether he wished England had scored a try, any hint of grace went straight out of the window.
"I can't believe you've asked that question. They've conceded loads of penalties, killed the ball like they did last year and they've got what they deserved. It's not about tries, it's about winning."
Australia's first try, he said, should have been disallowed for decoy-running in front of the ball carrier, and former players who offered their opinions on the eve of games were "out of order".
When this diatribe was relayed to Eddie Jones, the Wallaby coach resembled a man whose host has just urinated in his vegemite.
"Oh well, fair enough, mate," he replied, lips as tight as a dot.com profit margin. His eyes, though, were blazing.
Perhaps one day Woodward will recognise he is doing neither himself nor England's image abroad any favours at all by insulting opponents while his big-game adrenalin is still pumping. He had a point about the ball-killing, but the referee, Paddy O'Brien, dealt firmly enough with it on the field and had sin-binned Owen Finegan by the 13th minute for interfering with England's lineout jumpers.
Woodward lamented the fact that England won't get a crack at the All Blacks, even though they're in the neighbourhood. But an experimental side will be named for this weekend's clash with Romania with an eye to Saturday week's examination against the Springboks, whose dismay at losing in Paris will deepen when they study this video.
Neil Back was a clear winner in his battle with George Smith, the strength and assurance of Graham Rowntree, Phil Vickery, Danny Grewcock and Ben Kay meant the subs bench remained untouched and, if England's three-quarters had located more space, the margin would have been greater.
Those who feared Robinson at full back might be either a Crusoe-like figure, shipwrecked by Woodward's good intentions, or the weakest link were reassured before half-time.
By then England were already 15-0 ahead thanks to three penalties and right- and left-footed drop-goals by Jonny Wilkinson, each row of the scrum vying with each other for star billing.
Despite Matt Burke's converted try, two more Wilkinson penalties restored his side's cushion and Phil Waugh's 75th-minute charge through Richard Hill was a less abiding memory than Mike Catt flicking the ball through his legs to Will Greenwood to ease his team out of a defensive tight spot or Wilkinson indulging in one of his now-trademark, bone-crunching tackles on Nathan Grey.
"It was important we bounced back after Dublin and we did it in tremendous style," acknowledged Back. "I said before the game we needed to win or lose with dignity and honour. We didn't do that against Ireland but we did today."
If he can repeat that middle sentence to Woodward before the South Africa game, so much the better.
ENGLAND: Robinson (Sale); Healey (Leicester), Greenwood (Harlequins), Catt (Bath), Luger (Harlequins); Wilkinson (Newcastle), Bracken (Saracens); Rowntree (Leicester), West (Leicester), Vickery (Gloucester), Kay (Leicester), Grewcock (Bath), Hill (Saracens), Back (Leicester), Worsley (Wasps).
AUSTRALIA: Burke (NSW); Latham (Queensland), Herbert (Queensland; Bond, ACT, 67), Grey (NSW), Roff (Biarritz); Larkham (Queensland), Gregan (ACT, capt); Stiles (Queensland), Foley (Queensland), Darwin (ACT; Moore, NSW, 80), Harrison (ACT; Cockbain, Queensland, 50), Giffin (ACT), Finegan (ACT), Smith (ACT; Waugh, NSW, 67), T Kefu (Queensland).
Referee: P O'Brien (New Zealand).
