Wayne Rooney does a nice line in diplomacy. ‘The biggest challenge of my career,’ he called the fight to win a place in the England forward line before they played Spain last Friday.

Only this is not a fair fight because Roy Hodgson’s world must revolve around Rooney until England are finally knocked out of Euro 2016 next summer.

When the striker swung his right leg effortlessly to connect with Raheem Sterling’s 47th-minute cross to give his side a 2-0 lead, it was confirmation he remains the first name on the team-sheet.

Wayne Rooney lets fly with an unstoppable volley to double England's lead on the night

Dele Alli opened his England account on his first start in a Three Lions shirt

Raheem Sterling continued his impressive season with a lively display for his country

Rooney has an aura that makes you want to believe he is the one man who could still get this team out of a crater in a big game. He was not especially happy to be a substitute for the 2-0 defeat by Spain in Alicante and yet he responded with the 51st goal of his international career against France. Good on him.

Over the next few weeks you can bet your bottom dollar that someone will be demanding the England captain is relegated to the bench for club, country or both. He only has to go a half without a goal for that to happen, to be questioned about his fitness, his form or his appetite for the game. For the record, it remains undiminished.

Barely 30 — thirty! — there are questions about his age, but this is the time for England to tailor a role for the forward that teases the very best out of him. Let’s call it the ‘Totti position’.

Rooney should mimic Francesco Totti’s talismanic qualities on the field for Roma, using his match awareness and experience at the highest level to create an added threat.

Totti is now 39, and his legs went a long time ago, but his soothing presence on the pitch for Roma in the twilight of his club career has only added to his lustre. Rooney must play a similar role.

Here the captain was assigned the ‘graveyard shift’ on the left, as Steven Gerrard referred to it whenever he was shunted out there by former England coach Fabio Capello.

It has been tweaked under Hodgson because he has taken to playing 4-3-3, moving Rooney to the left to accommodate Harry Kane in the centre and Raheem Sterling on the opposite flank.

The triangles worked effortlessly, particularly when Dele Alli joined in the fun with some crunching tackles to win the ball from Yohan Cabaye, Morgan Schneiderlin and Blaise Matuidi in the centre of the pitch. At times, Alli radiated class.

Rooney should study Roma talisman Francesco Totti to add further guile to his game

Alli makes a crunching tackle on France's Morgan Schneiderlin in the middle of the park

He scored a pearler on his full England debut, reading the combination play of Rooney and Sterling on the right after being first into the tackle.

Two minutes after the restart, Alli took advantage of the sleepy French substitute Paul Pogba to dispossess him in the move that led to Rooney’s emphatic finish at the far post.

It is unrealistic to think the captain has the same range of movement as the player who frightened the life out of the France pairing of Lilian Thuram and Mikael Silvestre at Euro 2004.

Still, he led by example when he was chasing down Bacary Sagna and Hatem Ben Arfa at the start of this match. Rooney has never shirked hard work.

He has also emerged as a fine ambassador for this team, a reliable and mature figurehead who spoke with authority when he was asked about the terrorist attacks in Paris. ‘To be involved in this occasion was tough, especially as there were a lot of young players excited to be making their England debuts,’ admitted Rooney after this enterprising 2-0 victory.

‘The fans were brilliant and I’m sure this will get shown round the world and show the the unity between us and France, which can help a lot of people.’

Mikael Silvestre floors Rooney to concede a penalty during the game in Euro 2004

Rooney takes on Laurent Koscielny with his typical attacking verve during the 2-0 win

It is not really the job of an England captain to turn into a politician before big games, but it is a role Rooney has readily accepted on occasions since he succeeded his good friend Gerrard.

Hodgson was impressed with Rooney’s skilful handling of the situation in Paris when he appeared alongside England’s head coach and FA chief executive Martin Glenn on Monday afternoon.

His influence on the squad continues to grow, and he was reaching out to some of the younger players ahead of this friendly to offer them words of comfort and reassurance.

That is a role Rooney relishes. He is now a statesmanlike figure in a squad that no longer has some of the biggest names and characters in the game.

Rooney is a throwback to a time when England players rattled cages in the dressing room before matches, screaming and shouting at each other ahead of the biggest tournament games.