Leonard - mixed emotions.

By Frank Malley, PA Chief Sports Writer

Jason Leonard limped gingerly up the Twickenham stairs, a torn hamstring bringing a painful grimace with each step.

A drop of blood oozed from a purple ear, a bead of sweat rolled down his cheek and he wore the dazed expression of an accident victim.

For all the world he resembled a man in shock after his history-making 100th international cap had ended in injury after just 33 minutes.

The shock, however, had nothing to do with England's 25-17 triumph against France and everything to do with the tragically early death of his Harlequins and England team-mate Nick Duncombe.

England's players learned of the tragedy, which happened on a training trip to Lanzarote, late on Friday evening - and the news shrouded the opening of the RBS 6-Nations Championship.

The biggest moment of Leonard's career, leading out England to the rapturous applause of a packed Twickenham, was put in sharp perspective by the one minute's silence which followed, meticulously observed, in tribute to 21-year-old Duncombe who England coach Clive Woodward confirmed would have been almost certainly in Saturday's squad but for a recent injury.

"It was very hard," admitted Leonard. "It puts everything in perspective. Everybody in the squad was taken aback by the news.

"Someone said a star which burns twice as bright like Nick - he was such a lovely person who used to light up a room when he came in - sometimes they burn half as long.

"All the players are choked. But it was important for us to play. Nick hasn't been far from our thoughts. I'm just shocked. Absolutely unbelievable. It still hasn't sunk in."

The numbness of the tragedy perhaps added to the flatness of an opening match. For while the England flag flew at half-mast the England team seemingly played at half-power in a game overwhelmed by nerves amid the realisation that this was not just the start of this year's championship, but also the beginning of a journey which both these teams realistically believe could end in world supremacy.

Certainly England are now favourites to land their first Grand Slam under Woodward even if their last match of this tournament pitches them against Ireland at Lansdowne Road in an action replay of what turned into their worst nightmare two seasons ago.

They are also likely to meet France in the semi-finals of the World Cup in Australia later this year and while much rugby has to be played before then there is a gathering power about England which increasingly suggests they could go all the way.

No, they didn't play that well against France. They lacked midfield creativity and Woodward's gamble on playing Charlie Hodgson, his fly-half deputy, at centre did not produce the luminous penetration for which he had hoped.

They were ponderous at times up front where a feisty, well-drilled French pack disrupted their rhythm and fractured the essential platform between back row and three-quarters.

But England still won and with some ease, despite a late Gallic riposte which brought tries for full-back Clement Pointrenaud and centre Damien Traille.

And that, especially when things don't go quite as planned, is the bottom line in a year so far which has seen such dereliction of duty by so many England sportsmen.

If only the nation's cricketers demonstrated the backbone of Richard Hill, as ubiquitous as ever at number eight and whose hard work is the standard bearer for England's physical pack.

If only Britain's Davis Cup tennis players could discover an individual with the dazzling natural talent of try-scorer Jason Robinson, whose imagination and adventure lit the fuse for so much of England's most penetrative work.

If only England's footballers, abject and passionless in defeat against Australia in midweek, possessed a play-maker with the work ethic and precision of Jonny Wilkinson, whose 20 points to take him past the 600-mark in Tests again demonstrated how irreplaceable he is to the England cause.

Quite why Woodward dares to tamper with his conductor-in-chief, by interchanging roles with Hodgson, is a mystery. Wilkinson is the best fly-half in the world by some distance, the man on whom England's hopes of World Cup triumph rest. He should be left to run the show without interference, especially as Hodgson's interventions on Saturday brought only uncertainty and France's first try when Olivier Magne charged down one of his weak attempts at clearance.

Yet England won convincingly. And, despite Woodward's assertion that the 25 minutes after Robinson's try were among the worst England had played during his reign, Sven Goran Eriksson, Roger Taylor and Nasser Hussain would settle for that.

Woodward now has hapless Wales in Cardiff next week and games against Scotland and Italy at Twickenham to hone his side's sharpness before the Irish challenge when the winning habit would surely bring that first Slam. Not that any coach or player was in the mood to even contemplate such conjecture on Saturday - the day history was tinged with tragedy.