Given that the France scrum had pretty much crumbled to his command at the Stade de France, Andrew Sheridan was enjoying the understatement afterwards when he described it as “a nice evening”. But for the glint of red flesh on the more cauliflowered extreme of his right ear, and a bead of sweat that crawled down his cheek, you might never have known post-match that Sheridan had been in an international match, let alone won the thing and simultaneously exposed the deep problems that afflict France not only this year but possibly for many more to come.

Indeed, in bringing the French to their knees, Sheridan has further enhanced his reputation both as a world-feared scrummager and also as a deadpan comedian. Here, for instance, was the initial verbal exchange afterwards.

Question: “Was that one of your best games for England?”

Answer: “Me?” [He delivered this with a look of utter confusion, as if we had got the wrong man.] “I didn't really think of it like that. It was just nice that we won; nice day really, nice evening.”

Question: “You must have felt you were on the front foot in the scrum?”

Answer: “Overall we were reasonably pleased with how those sort of aspects went.”

Question: “But you must at least feel you have done your reputation good.”

Answer: “I just go out and enjoy playing.”

If all this had not come from such a softly spoken individual, the French would be forgiven for feeling that he was taking the mickey. But this is indeed Sheridan's way; he blows his opponents to smithereens and then tells you it's been reasonably enjoyable.

This is, of course, further evidence of the world-beating force that England have at loose-head, though it ignores the hugely effective Phil Vickery propping on the other side of the scrum. Yet of more deep-seated significance was the state of their victims yesterday. The downfall of the French front row is a calamity now fully exposed. Quite simply, French rugby's malaise is similar to that of football in England; the French championship, like the Barclays Premier League, is stuffed with splendid foreign talent that makes for a great spectacle, but when a preponderance of those imports seem to be front-rowers, then you have a problem.

Bernard Lapasset, president of the French federation, made the very point before this game when he complained that “80 per cent” of props in France are qualified for other countries; Georgia and Argentina mostly, but also New Zealand, Romania and South Africa. But beyond Nicolas Mas, Jean-Baptiste Poux and Lionel Faure, who played on Saturday, there is no band of tyros waiting impatiently to burst through. On the sidelines are Sylvain Marconnet, who is in his 30s and coming back from injury, Olivier Milloud (ditto) and Julien Brugnaut (26), who was introduced as the great young hope earlier in the Six Nations but has already been demolished and sent back to relearn the trade.

The French problem is the same as the Wallabies’, if only marginally milder. After Australia were crushed, again at the hand of Sheridan, at Twickenham in 2005, they talked about starting a programme to groom world-class scrummagers; Didier Retière, the French forwards coach, is masterminding a similar plan, but as the World Cup proved, it takes more than two years for such projects to bear fruit.

Retière is quite honest about the front-row issue. In an interview after Ireland had pulled off a similar humiliation a fortnight previously, he said (translated slightly unfortunately): “The gap between the Top 14 [French clubs] and the national team is real. We’re looking for a balance. We want to win this tournament, but we don’t want to be found with our pants down next year or in the 2011 World Cup.”

As for England, one wonders how much longer Mark Regan can persuade Brian Ashton to pick him at hooker. It is some comment on Sheridan and Vickery that England can be so awesome up front and yet be carrying a comparative passenger. If Regan is to go, though, it will not have been a quiet departure. The criticism of him by Marc Lièvremont, the France coach, as a “clown” whose behaviour was “unacceptable”, was strange, albeit that Regan was guilty of one flurry of punches, as he was being held illegally, for which he conceded a penalty and then found himself benched.

Regan was not apparently concerned by this. He said he was disappointed but took it as proof that he was doing his job. And Sheridan, being Sheridan, said there was nothing disrespectful in being a clown anyway. “It’s a job, isn’t it?” he said. “In circuses?” Indeed, but if England can trade in their old warrior of a hooker — and a joker to boot — for something better, then what a front-row force they will be.