Toby Flood makes it sound so natural that, for a second, you wonder if you misheard him. But, no, there it is loud and clear on the tape. "We need to go out there, forget about the result, and play. The result will come if we play the way we can. Guys go back to their clubs and chuck the ball around and we want to do the same. The ability to go out and express yourself as an individual is key, no matter what environment you're in."
Bravo! Encore! It is almost enough to make Danny Cipriani cancel his flight to Australia and beg for some forgiveness. England committed to playing it fast and furious, regardless of outcome? While everyone still has huge respect for Jonny Wilkinson's achievements, there is more chance of the great man bungee-jumping off the Eiffel Tower than expressing a similar view on the eve of their Six Nations finale in Paris tomorrow night. England's farewell flourish – and specifically Flood's role in it – could prove as instructive as their previous four games put together.
The latest edition of Le Crunch will certainly indicate whether Flood is the playmaker to take his country forward into the post-Wilkinson era. When England's No20 kicks a late winning drop goal there may have to be some hasty reassessment but, initially at least, this is the Leicester man's big opportunity. The number of different fly-halves England have fielded at Test level since 2006 – Charlie Hodgson, Andy Goode, Flood, Shane Geraghty, Wilkinson, Olly Barkley, Mike Catt, Cipriani – suggests the management still seeks the answer to the perennial question.
Flood must also be heartily sick of the endless comparisons with Wilkinson, born in the same maternity ward at Frimley hospital six years before him. This will be his 29th cap and he has yet to finish on the losing side after four previous meetings with the French. His club are top of the Guinness Premiership and he has just been picked, on merit, as his country's leading fly-half. And all people want to know is how Jonny took the news. Does he feel overlooked, even now? "I get this quite a lot, the 'shadow' thing. I never felt I was under a shadow at all. We're good friends and the decisions of others doesn't affect that friendship. But we're also fully aware there is only one position between the two of us. We go out to play as well as we can for Toulon or Leicester and leave the rest up to the gods."
As Flood knows, though, it is not that simple. England's chariot has stalled lately and Wilkinson has been powerless to do much about it. Tries have largely disappeared and so has collective confidence. If Flood can stand up flat, conjure a few offloads and oil the spluttering cogs against the best team in the tournament, people will soon stop pining for his old Newcastle team-mate. England's two best Six Nations performances of recent times have come against France, first in 2007 and then again in 2009. The starting fly-half on each occasion was a certain Tobias Gerald Albert Lieven Flood (his actor grandfather Albert Lieven appeared in the Guns of Navarone). Coincidence? Possibly not.
The 2007 game, in particular, was a revelation. It was Flood's first Test start and, despite being forced off with a knee injury, his sparky contribution to his side's 26-18 win was significant. "We really enjoyed the way we played that day. I guess it was the naivety of youth. We were just going out to play. One of the most important things in rugby, and in sport in general, is to remember who you are. We spend a huge amount of time analysing the opposition and thinking about the lines they like to run. But, actually, if you go out and play the way you want to play as a squad it makes a big difference."
Then there was last year's wonder game when England found themselves 34 points up inside 43 minutes. "You don't see many of those 40 minutes in a lifetime. For us to play anywhere near that again this weekend would be fantastic."
A ruptured achilles tendon playing for Leicester against Cardiff Blues in the Heineken Cup semi-final last year was an untimely reminder that life is rarely so serene but his subsequent time on the bench has only sharpened his appetite. "Whether a team wins or loses, there is frustration at not being part of it. You can't feel the disappointment or the elation so much. That's the hardest thing. It's not necessarily about personal pride. That gets in the way of the team. It's just not being able to have an impact on the game in any way whatsoever."
Finally, though, he has the stage he craves. His father, Tim, used to manage the Whitley Bay Playhouse and is now marketing and programming manager at The Customs House in South Shields. It is not quite the Moulin Rouge but the forthcoming one-man production of Lord of the Rings sounds fun. Playing fly-half for England is, arguably, a similarly complex challenge. "If a team plays poorly a lot of axes will fall on people in high-profile positions," says Flood. "Because a lot of traffic goes through 10 you need a good decision-maker but too much onus can be put on a 10 at times. You can probably get away with a poor 10 in a very good side."
An intelligent, sharp-witted No10, though, can make the difference between mediocrity and something altogether different, always assuming he has some quick ball to play with. Flood's kicking, with his late failures to nail victory in Scotland still fresh in the mind, will also be crucial if England are to emerge from hibernation. "The good thing for us is that there's no pressure in terms of grand slams or winning the tournament. That's a horrible place to be in certain respects but it means we can go out and play the way we want to."
No matter how many times the television director calls for a close-up of Jonny looking pensive, hand on chin in the style of Rodin's famous sculpture, England's leading man tomorrow night is Wilkinson's erstwhile understudy.
