Delon Armitage today paid tribute to under-fire captain Steve Borthwick following England's extraordinary win over France at Twickenham yesterday.

The London Irish full-back was one of the stars of the show, scoring a scintillating try in the first-half as England completely overwhelmed their opponents to lead 29-0 at the break.

Armitage, who overcame a serious foot injury earlier in the season, said that much of the credit should go to Borthwick, who had endured criticism following defeats to Wales and Ireland.

“Steve led us really well,” said Armitage. “He has taken a lot of stick but carried us forward and lifted us to this great result.”

Borthwick, who had lost five of his seven matches in charge, produced a much-improved individual performance and thanked manager Martin Johnson for sticking by him.

He said: “Martin Johnson has been absolutely superb. It's hugely important to have a man like Martin behind you and I thank him for his support.

“Yes, he's young in the job, but he has been brilliant and we are all hungry to get better. This is a performance that shows we have made great strides.

“There have been challenges for all of us and we have stuck together. I take great pride in playing for England and yes, lots of people have doubted us but the spirit has been great.

“We have just beaten a very good French side , who had a great win over Wales, and we can improve — which is exciting.”

While the result owed much to some thrilling running from a back division led by Armitage and Riki Flutey — who scored two tries — and the stoicism of Borthwick up front, there is still some room for improvement.

Although they did manage to keep 15 men on the pitch for the first time in the championship, disciplinary problems persist.

After establishing such a huge lead at the break, England proceeded to lose the second half 10-5 and conceded seven penalties in an 11 minutes period mid-way through that half which took them perilously close to a seventh yellow card in three matches.

Only the patience and understanding of Aussie referee Stuart Dickinson saved them from further embarrassment. England have won their seven matches under Dickinson's control and he was by far the most communicative official to take charge of Borthwick's men this season.

He gave England a final warning after 63 minutes and, even though Andrew Sheridan was penalised for not binding at the scrum nine minutes later, the prop stayed on the pitch.

Johnson acknowledged the huge strides that had been made — especially in turnovers, where England had 13 to France's one — but recognised the players hit trouble in the second half.

He said: “The guys have confidence in what we are doing and to turn them into clinical tries was great. However, there are still lots of improvements to make, but in the heat of the game there are always going to be mistakes and it's about minimising them.”

The final word on the afternoon belonged to Armitage. He had feared he might miss the entire Six Nations with a serious foot injury but has now played so well as to be a serious contender for the Lions at full-back in South Africa this summer.

He took six weeks off after breaking his metatarsal bone for a second time on 20 December. By opting for rest, Armitage knew his Six Nations place was in real jeopardy but he said: “I worked really hard with the phsyios and the aim was to ensure that when I was able to play, I could be better.”

Armitage was understandably jubilant after his success against France, the country that told him he was too small and frail for senior rugby after he appeared for their Under-16 side while living in Nice.

The 25-year-old said: “Kissing the rose after scoring by try was my way of saying, thank you for giving me the opportunity to play international rugby'.”

England's main injury worry ahead of Saturday's match with Scotland is Toby Flood, who injured his shoulder just before half-time.