Brian Ashton makes no secret of his dislike of pre-planned tactical replacements. Among some Guinness Premiership coaches it has become almost an article of faith that, on the hour, say, two front-row forwards will trot off, two more will trot on, closely followed by a flanker to make up the fresh legs.

Ashton, England’s head coach, likes to sniff the wind. More to the point, he insists that when his replacements do take the field, they make an impact; all too frequently the introduction of a wave of fresh players destroys the rhythm so patiently established over an hour but on Saturday, every member of England’s match squad of 22 earned his corn.

“We have players who know how to win a game, we have the armoury within the squad to get ourselves into positions where we know we can win,” Ashton said yesterday. “That was our big advantage over the French team. The players we brought on could help guide the team through the difficult last 15 minutes of the game compared to the French replacements, who couldn’t do that.”

The coach studiously avoids singling out individuals but his thoughts were clearly on Lawrence Dallaglio, Joe Worsley and Matt Stevens. How swiftly did the Bath prop make his presence felt when he replaced Phil Vickery: the scrum suffered not a jot and Stevens was there, too, for a seismic collision with Sébastien Chabal.

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BACKGROUND

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Indeed, every one of England’s replacements seemed to want to make a point against Chabal, who has been so much the public image of this France team. When Peter Richards entered the fray, the first thing he did was tackle the bearded Sale Sharks forward, then it was Toby Flood’s turn to join forces with Paul Sackey and shunt Chabal into touch, winning, in the process, what turned out to be a crucial penalty.

It also emphasised how England destroyed the mystique that has surrounded Chabal here. Bernard Laporte, the France coach, said that the introduction of Chabal midway through the first half to replace the injured Fabien Pelous destroyed his impact because he had to attend too much to the tight duties that are Pelous’s forte rather than become the human wrecking ball he has at times appeared. How often did the ball pass him by or, when he did receive it, two Englishmen followed in close attendance? The one genuine opportunity that came his way was after Vincent Clerc had been brought down by Worsley’s tap-tackle and, though the ball was transferred to Chabal, there was still too much work for him to do to cross the tryline.

But probably the most effective of England’s replacements on Saturday was Dan Hipkiss. The Leicester centre has not started once in this tournament but, when Josh Lewsey damaged his right hamstring, he was given a full half in which to play. Had it been a frustrating time, he was asked? “Not really, because I’ve been really happy with how the guys have been performing,” Hipkiss said. “We play the rest of the squad against the starting XV before each of the games, with the rest of us trying to replicate how we believe the next opposition will play, so we feel we make our contribution. Then it’s very rewarding to see how the work we have done translates in the matches.”

This is the kind of team spirit that can take months to grow and that this squad, perhaps because of the deep calamity against South Africa, has achieved within weeks. Only a handful of the group had been born when the Lions played their unbeaten tour to South Africa in 1974 but the players who beat the Springboks then paid their own tribute to those in the stand who had helped to make them the invincible team they became.

In those days, replacements for injured players was a concept still in its infancy, far removed from the tactical approach of today. Nonetheless, it can truly be said they also serve who only sit in the stands and wait.