Perhaps it was a little bit of both. But what had to be acknowledged was that the English awoke
from their World Cup slumber with a sparkling display in Dunedin on Saturday night.
If they can beat Scotland at Eden Park later this week, they will have no reason not to believe they can beat France, then either Ireland or Wales to reach a third consecutive World Cup final.
This was England's third weekend as a semi-permanent home team at Otago Stadium, but after the turgid victories over Argentina and Georgia, the welcome was starting to wear a little thin.
Thankfully, it was no dire forward-oriented gruntfest that ended in a scoreline of 15-9 or similar.
It was real running rugby, free-flowing stuff. Ten tries, nine of them scored by the backs, with Mark Cueto (inside the first half hour) and Chris Ashton getting hat tricks. Good heavens, old chap, these fellows in white can actually play the game in style.
It was as if the English had vowed to unleash the frustration built up over the first two rounds of the tournament, which included two execrable performances, albeit both victories.
And it was impossible not to think one of the milder scandals to hit a rugby team - Mike Tindall's lecherous, lubricated dalliance with the mystery blonde in Queenstown - had played its role in motivating England.
The Romanians weren't much chop, it has to be said. Their "final" is against Georgia on Wednesday, and they had rested some of their better players accordingly.
But you can only play the team put in front of you, and who is to say the English could not have shocked better teams on the night?
Cueto showed supreme finishing skills in his first appearance at the tournament, after recovering from a back injury, classy halfback Ben Youngs played with sizzle and pace, and fullback Ben Foden joined in the fun.
But the best on show were Ashton - he of the outrageous swan dive - and rookie centre Manu Tuilagi.
Again, there is no doubt some English backs' performances were elevated by a slightly dispirited Romanian team. But Tuilagi's power and pace, and Ashton's lovely attacking runs, could be a handful for anyone.
Up front, there was the usual commitment and fire from a forward pack everyone knows will not be bettered, with a loose forward battalion featuring the indefatigable Lewis Moody and James Haskell in prime form.
England coach Martin Johnson could at last relax in a press conference and face questions on topics other than dwarf-throwing and mistake-riddled rugby.
"We just went out to keep our shape and discipline. We knew that if we did that, the opportunities would come for the tries," Johnson said.
"I told them at halftime that we just had to keep the intensity there.
"Compared to last week we did a pretty good job in holding on to the ball and not forcing the pass. We kept our shape and kept the balance right. In the second half, when we had the ball we were direct and dangerous."
England still seems to be committing a lot of silly penalties, although Johnson said he was happier with his side's discipline.
He was delighted with how the backs, as a unit, created tries for the wingers, and he singled out young Tuilagi for special praise.
"When we picked him, everyone talked about brute force and lack of creativity. But I knew he could play rugby, and some of the tries he scored were about great lines of running.
"He works very hard and tries to get better all the time. Some of the improvement he has made has been fantastic."
Johnson is ready for a "scrap" against Scotland, and hoping the old enemy might be battle-weary after last night's clash with Argentina.
The scores:-
ENGLAND v ROMANIA
• England 67
Mark Cueto 3, Chris Ashton 3, Ben Youngs, Ben Foden, Manu Tuilagi, Tom Croft tries; Jonny Wilkinson 3 con, pen; Toby Flood 4 con
• Romania 3
Marin Dumbrava pen
• Halftime: England 34-3 Crowd: 25,687