There are seldom happy endings for deposed England captains. Like a certain breed of 20th century South American dictator, they tend to meet sticky ends pretty soon after they lose power.

Dylan Hartley was placed on a job-share arrangement with Owen Farrell at the start of the 2018 autumn international series. By the end of that campaign, he had played his last game for England, despite his 85 per cent win record as captain, with Eddie Jones providing the infamous send-off, ‘you’re f----- mate’.

In a similar vein, Steve Borthwick was on his honeymoon when head coach Martin Johnson called him to tell him that not only was he being stripped of the England captaincy but he was losing his place in the squad. Like a lion, the moment an England captain loses his status as alpha male they tend to be ostracised from the pride.

So when Jamie George was hooked as captain coming into this Six Nations Championship, it was easy to see the Saracens hooker following a similar path to the wilderness. The hamstring injury he suffered against Castres in the Champions Cup might have provided a convenient pretext to gently push the 34-year-old towards the fringes in favour of a younger, more dynamic generation of hookers led by Luke Cowan-Dickie and clubmate Theo Dan.

Whatever resentment he felt towards his demotion to vice-captain status, he channelled it in the perfect way in coming on for Cowan-Dickie in the 62nd minute in which he passed Hartley as England’s most capped hooker. In an instant, an England line-out which looked vulnerable to a stiff breeze had solid foundations, with Ollie Chessum also arriving from the bench.

George faced four high-pressure throws, three of which were within the French 22. France’s spring-heeled forwards challenged each throw but, on each, George hit the equivalent of double tops with Itoje claiming one just centimetres above the clutches of Oscar Jégou. Two of those darts resulted in tries for Fin Baxter and another old stager in Elliot Daly who finished a beautifully executed strike move at the death to send Twickenham into delirium. When it comes to the fundamental art of nailing high-pressure lineout throws there are few better than George.

“He (George) is a great player isn’t he?” Daly said. “He comes on the pitch and it’s all calm. He nails his line-outs, gets round the pitch, makes line breaks. He doesn’t do too many line breaks... he made one today which is actually really nice to see. He just brings that calm, especially in those situations where we could chase the game, but we know the only way to get back into the game is to do what you do and do it well – double down on it. He was instrumental in that.”

Both George and Daly were entitled to adopt a Marcus Rashford celebration pose, which the former, an Aston Villa fan, entitled “life in the old dogs yet” on his social media account.

Yet it was not just the old dogs who delivered in those clutch moments. To a man, England’s replacements added intensity without lapsing into indiscretion as they had done in the 27-22 defeat in Dublin.

The disclaimer that could be erected in 20ft-high neon signage is that France could and should have scored at least three tries but for handling errors by Antoine Dupont, Damian Penaud and Peato Mavuaka. However, England rode their considerable luck and entering the final quarter, the pinch point in which they frequently found themselves squeezed out of the contest in their seven-game losing run against tier-one opposition, found a way to get over the line. And crucially they showed they had implemented the lessons – sorry ‘learnings – from their autumn of anguish.

Against New Zealand, it was discipline that cost England. On Saturday night, they did not concede a single penalty after a 55th-minute scrum infringement against Baxter who immediately got one back at the next set-piece.

Against Australia, it was the failure to secure a kick-off that resulted in Max Jorgensen’s match-winning try. While England were indebted to Marcus Smith cleaning up Dupont’s high, hanging kick, they nonetheless bossed the restart game which resulted in Tommy Freeman’s try.

Against South Africa, there were fewer what-ifs such was the Springboks’ superiority but there was still lingering regret over the failure to capitalise upon five second-half kicks to the corner. Again, George’s introduction led directly to two tries from line-outs, the latter finished by Daly.

George hit Chessum at the front and although the maul made ground, it slowed prompting referee Nika Amashukeli, who had an outstanding game, to tell England to use it which prompted Fin Smith to call for their decisive strike play. “Fin called for the play and that was it,” Daly said. “He straightened nicely and put me through a big hole. I think in that moment, it was just that we were all on the same page, which is what we needed to be and pretty calm. He (Fin) is brilliant to be brave enough in the final seconds and is why we won the game.

“Whatever happened today it was like – pardon my French – ‘f--- that, on to the next thing’. That mindset put us in great stead, especially in the last 20 minutes where we were chasing it and scored, then chased it again. It allowed us to be free and brave with the ball.”

For Borthwick, there was particular satisfaction that England executed a move that had come to nothing against South Africa, with Ollie Lawrence timing his pass behind Freeman to Smith perfectly. “What I am really pleased with is that we gave that pass,” he said. “There was a situation in the South Africa game very similar to that where we didn’t give that pass, we didn’t quite have that same running line.”

Redemption then for Borthwick and England, but also for George, who proved his enduring value as a player even without the captaincy.