Steve Borthwick hailed Owen Farrell and Marcus Smith for mixing England a mouthwatering attacking cocktail in the 71-0 Rugby World Cup hammering of Chile.
Captain Farrell returned after suspension to pilot England’s 11-try thumping of Chile that inches the Red Rose side ever closer to a World Cup quarter-final.
Beat Samoa in Lille on Saturday, October 7 and England will top Pool D and line up a last-eight meeting with Fiji, Wales or Australia.
England finally found their attacking blend in France in their comfortable win over Chile, with Henry Arundell scoring a Red Rose record-equalling five tries.
Smith claimed two scores of his own on his first ever start at full-back, linking in style with fly-half Farrell to kick start England’s attack.
“Today you saw a great blend, the team played in a few different styles at different times in that game, led by Owen,” said Borthwick.
“Marcus did a lot of very good things, there was a lot of exciting talent on the pitch.
“This squad is packed full of talent and packed full of options.
“The starting configuration did a really good job after working through a challenging spell.
“To be able to change that during the game and have Owen, George and Marcus on the pitch brought another dimension and certainly gives options for the future.”
Smith appeared faster over the ground than ever before when zipping through arcing lines or stepping through traffic against Chile.
Head coach Borthwick hailed the Harlequins star for a consummate performance.
“I think that, playing at 15, there is a different amount of space there compared to playing at 10.
“The job of the players on the inside is to hold the defence to make sure there is space for the guys on the outside.
“I thought they did that very well. The way Marcus took those opportunities, found the space and linked with Henry Arundell in particular was a positive.
“I think what it shows is a lot of hard work from everybody on the training field.
“The players have been working for a long period for an opportunity to represent England at a World Cup and they are building well.”
Arundell delivered a fine performance for his five tries, leaving Borthwick suitably impressed.
“Henry played really well, he took those opportunities and he’s a fantastic finisher,” said Borthwick.
“The message to him was to bring his point of difference on the pitch and to back himself.
“He certainly did that with those opportunities.
“We have to credit as well the people on the inside who helped create those chances.”
