Maro Itoje highlights key quality England showed to secure much-needed win

Elliot Daly’s last-gasp try secured a much-needed win for Steve Borthwick’s side to keep their Six Nations hopes alive

Maro Itoje hailed the bravery and ambition England showed to snatch a long-awaited narrow victory over France and keep their Six Nations hopes alive.

Elliot Daly’s last-gasp try secured a one-point win for the hosts at a raucous Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, ending a run of seven consecutive defeats to top sides.

While that run had been broken up by two successes against Japan, this was a much-needed triumph for Steve Borthwick’s side after a series of near misses over the last 12 months.

Aided by French profligacy, England stuck in it throughout to set up a match-winning score as young fly half Fin Smith starred on his first international start.

It was Itoje’s first win as skipper having been elevated to the captaincy ahead of this campaign, and the lock was pleased to see his side’s hard work finally pay off.

“Steve told the group to be ambitious, to be brave, to go out and score tries,” Itoje said. “Our backs were incredibly brave, incredibly ambitious and they took the opportunities when on other days we might have tucked the ball and taken the conservative option.

“The team has been working and been consistent throughout this period and I guess the result is a vindication of the hard work of the players, the coaches and all the support staff.

“There is a whole load we can get better at – this game was by no means perfect. Steve and the coaches, come the next training day, will give us an honest review like he always does, regardless of the result.“

Beaten in Dublin by Ireland on the opening weekend, England head into the first fallow week with confidence, to some extent, restored, with Scotland next to come to Twickenham in a round three Calcutta Cup clash.

It appears likely that 22-year-old Northampton playmaker Fin Smith will retain the starting 10 shirt ahead of namesake Marcus after a mature, composed performance.

“I thought he played very well,” Borthwick said of his fly half. “He showed great composure. And I thought that you could see the cohesion factor between him and [fellow Northampton half back] Alex Mitchell.

“France are such a good team and what really struck me today was how hard the England players were running back. We said in the week that we would have to - because they’re such a good team - but they ran back and tried to save tries. That’s a real sign of team development.”