Steve Borthwick believes Marcus Smith can be England’s “gamechanger” against France after shifting the Harlequins playmaker to full-back and handing Fin Smith a first start at fly-half for Saturday’s crunch Six Nations clash.
Marcus Smith has started England’s last eight Tests at fly-half but, with Borthwick keen to exploit his sparkling talents from deep and introduce a second playmaker to the side, the head coach has rolled the dice as he seeks to end a miserable run of seven defeats in nine matches.
Fin Smith, who wins his eighth cap, has dovetailed with namesake Marcus in his last two appearances off the bench, against Japan and France, and Borthwick highlighted the 22-year-old’s defensive capabilities, pointing to his remarkable tackle count for Northampton against Exeter this season.
Most significantly, however, Borthwick believes his twin-playmakers policy gives Marcus Smith more room in which to work his magic. His last England start in the No 15 jersey came in the 2023 World Cup bronze-medal match victory over Argentina but he played all but seven minutes of last year’s defeat by France, coming off the bench after an early injury to George Furbank and catching the eye on the counterattack.
France are odds-on favourites to storm Twickenham again, having clinched an emphatic 53-10 victory two years ago, but given their tendency to kick from deep, there is method to Borthwick’s selectorial gamble which he has been weighing up for some time.
Allianz Stadium, 4.45pm GMT, Saturday 8 February
England M Smith; Freeman, Lawrence, Slade, Sleightholme; F Smith, Mitchell; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Stuart, Itoje (capt), Martin, T Curry, Earl, Willis.
Replacements: George, Baxter, Heyes, Chessum, Cunningham-South, B Curry, Randall, Daly.
France Ramos; Penaud, Barassi, Moefana, Bielle-Biarrey; Jalibert, Dupont (capt); Gros, Mauvaka, Atonio, Roumat, Meafou, Cros, Boudehent, Alldritt.
Replacements: Marchand, Baille, Colombe, Auradou, Guillard, Jegou, Le Garrec, Gailleton.
“I think he is a gamechanger. He’s a player who can do things very few of the players in the world can do,” said Borthwick of Marcus. “And I want him to bring all those natural instincts on to the field in an England shirt. I want those natural instincts on the pitch. He sees space that other players don’t. He has an ability to find gaps in defences that most people don’t know are there.
“I was chatting with Marcus last night and he was tremendously excited about the game on Saturday. He was excited about the feeling of playing with Fin Smith. We trained together on Tuesday and then reviewed that training session and reviewed what they did together. He was feeling really exhilarated about the opportunities of those two ball players and the space they could find and the space they were trying to look for.
“If you look at the way Marcus plays, particularly in those unstructured situations, you see how dangerous he is. If you give him time and space, he can hurt the opposition.
“You could talk a lot about Fin’s distribution skills, which are excellent. His kicking game is really very, very accurate. Early this season, we had Fin at 30 tackles in a game for Northampton. It tells you a lot about the personality – he’s tough, he’s brave. When players see a fly-half willing to defend like that, they have immense respect for him. So we can talk all about those different skill sets, which he certainly has, he’s an elite player, but he’s also a very tough, brave young man.”
France’s head coach, Fabien Galthié, is aware of the threat posed by Marcus Smith, labelling the 25-year-old “a sort of genius, an unparalleled attacker capable of changing a game with a sidestep, an acceleration, a drop kick, a pass”. His side can heap the pressure on Borthwick, however, with England facing their worst ever losing run against Six Nations and Rugby Championship sides if they are defeated again on Saturday.
“There is always expectation,” added Borthwick. “Any of the main English sports there is expectation to win – cricket, football, rugby – there is expectation and when you take the job you expect that expectation. I would rather be involved with a team that has expectation than one that doesn’t.”
Borthwick has handed a first start to Tom Willis, with Ben Curry dropping to the bench, while Ollie Sleightholme replaces the injured Cadan Murley on the wing. Jamie George is named on the bench for a first appearance since he was stripped of the England captaincy. Freddie Steward is not in the match-day 23.
Meanwhile, Borthwick has said that Immanuel Feyi-Waboso could be back for the end of the Six Nations after he opted to forgo surgery on a dislocated shoulder. When announcing his squad last month, Borthwick had said the Exeter winger would be having surgery in the coming days and be unavailable for the entire competition. His Exeter director of rugby, Rob Baxter, had previously said that the fact that Feyi-Waboso has been awarded an enhanced England contract, giving Borthwick “final say” on sports science matters, was slowing the entire process down.
“I think there is a possibility he’ll be back before the end of the Six Nations,” said Borthwick. “And I’d love him to be back before the end of this Six Nations. We talk about players with pace, power, skill … it depends how things progress, but he’s going well so far. Ultimately, [surgery is] a player’s decision, it’s always the player’s decision. And we are supportive of the player’s decision. I think Manny is in charge of that process.”
