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#Post#: 134784--------------------------------------------------
England weigh up dropping Marcus Smith for Italy clash
DIR By: deadlyfrom5yardsout
Date: March 5, 2025, 2:50 am
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Exclusive: Elliot Daly pencilled in to start at full-back
against Italy at Twickenham
Daniel Schofield.
Charles Richardson
Related Topics
England Rugby Union Team, Italy Rugby Union Team, Six Nations
04 March 2025 5:07pm GMT
Steve Borthwick is considering dropping Marcus Smith for the Six
Nations clash against Italy, in one of the biggest selection
calls of his tenure as England head coach.
Telegraph Sport understands that Elliot Daly, Saracens’ utility
back, has been pencilled in to start at full-back this Sunday
after two impressive cameos as a replacement. Fly-half Fin Smith
sat out an opening training session in York last week, but is
expected to be passed fit to start. This is likely to mean there
would be no place in the starting XV for Marcus Smith, unless
Fin Smith fails a late fitness test.
A demotion to the replacements bench would represent a
significant fall from grace for the Harlequins playmaker, whom
Borthwick looked to be building the team around following the
2023 World Cup. He was due to be England’s starting fly-half for
the 2024 Six Nations campaign, but picked up a calf injury in a
pre-tournament training camp, with George Ford taking the reins
at No 10.
Marcus Smith then started eight straight Tests at fly-half, but,
despite delivering strong individual performances, England only
managed to defeat Japan in that sequence. This led to Borthwick
moving Marcus Smith, who told Telegraph Sport before the
tournament that he considered himself a specialist fly-half, to
full-back following the 27-22 defeat by Ireland in the opening
round of the Six Nations. With Fin Smith taking over at No 10,
England recorded back-to-back one-point victories over France
and Scotland.
However, England’s attack remained clunky against Scotland, who
outscored them three tries to one in their 16-15 Calcutta Cup
defeat and targeted Marcus Smith and Ollie Sleightholme under
the high ball at the Allianz Stadium. Last week, assistant coach
Kevin Sinfield admitted “some elements” of Smith’s performance
at full-back needed to be better, but said that to throw the
experiment “in the bin now [would] be a wasted opportunity”.
However, Sinfield also hinted that 26-year-old could fulfil the
role of a “third playmaker” in the future, which could mean
deploying both Fin and Marcus Smith in the midfield together.
The promotion of Daly, who is a surer pair of hands under the
high ball, is just reward for his strong performances as a
replacement. He scored what proved to be the match-winning try
against France after Fin Smith added a conversion and also added
impetus when replacing Sleightholme against Scotland. Telegraph
Sport understands that Borthwick had considered starting him in
the Calcutta Cup match as well.
That nail-biting victory kept England’s Six Nations title hopes
alive, which are also contingent on France beating Ireland in
Dublin. England host Italy, against whom they have never lost,
at the Allianz Stadium on Sunday before a six-day turnaround to
the final Six Nations clash against Wales in Cardiff.
Head coach Borthwick is likely to confirm his team to face Italy
on Wednesday. Centre Henry Slade and lock Ollie Chessum did not
join team training on Tuesday, but are not believed to be
fitness concerns.
#Post#: 134785--------------------------------------------------
Re: England weigh up dropping Marcus Smith for Italy clash
DIR By: dr_miles
Date: March 5, 2025, 2:53 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Amazing. Literally the most talented attacking 10 for years,
initially hamstrung by having Farrell and captain and second 10
just outside him, then "strong individual performances" at 10
for a period then shifted to full back and then dropped.
Could he have been managed any worse?
#Post#: 134788--------------------------------------------------
Re: England weigh up dropping Marcus Smith for Italy clash
DIR By: MaidstoneQuin
Date: March 5, 2025, 3:00 am
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I personally get the feeling that Marcus was never really liked
by SB. Not in the way of marcus as a person/player, but
ultimately because Marcus just ran the game differently to how
Borekick wanted to play, so was always going to be at odds
together. He knew he had to play him, yet seems to have set him
up to fail, so he can ultimately turn around and say he gave him
a go and it didn't work out.
#Post#: 134793--------------------------------------------------
Re: England weigh up dropping Marcus Smith for Italy clash
DIR By: thatchapcarnell
Date: March 5, 2025, 3:31 am
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The bigger worry is that if he isn't a regular England starter
and/or loses his central contract, the need for him to stay in
England passes.
Au revoir.
#Post#: 134796--------------------------------------------------
Re: England weigh up dropping Marcus Smith for Italy clash
DIR By: DOK
Date: March 5, 2025, 3:51 am
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Well, I think in my heart of hearts I always knew this full back
idea would end in tears. I appreciate the idea of having another
play maker on the pitch, but in this day and age you cannot have
people playing out of position just to be on the pitch. Marcus
is not a full back. Doesn't want to be a full back. Doesn't have
the build for it. Doesn't play there week in week out. It's a
measure of his loyalty that he's given it his all, but it's
really not a solution. I think he's going to have to settle for
the subs bench and hope he gets to shine.
#Post#: 134797--------------------------------------------------
Re: England weigh up dropping Marcus Smith for Italy clash
DIR By: Banstead Quin
Date: March 5, 2025, 3:54 am
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I'm torn on this one. Take him out as Daly & F Smith seem to
suit the (lack of) attacking game plan. If it works and England
all of a sudden look like an attacking machine, albeit with a
restricted game plan, then so be it. It'll all be Marcus's fault
and another talent disappears for England.
On the other hand, it all goes as we expect and the World Class
utility back can't cut it for 80 minutes, we can all be happy
that it might bring Rugby's equivalent of Liz Truss and Kwasi
Kwarteng to an end
#Post#: 134814--------------------------------------------------
Re: England weigh up dropping Marcus Smith for Italy clash
DIR By: The Absolute Quintet
Date: March 5, 2025, 6:56 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Agree with the above posts. Bitter outcome for Marcus
personally, if it happens. He can righty feel properly sh*fted.
Gets moved to 15 because the replacement 10 had 5 good minutes
and there's no other attacking 15 alternative, then gets dropped
for a winger/full back has been.
Will be there on Sunday and, assuming this is right, it will be
interesting to see how the crowd reacts if things don't go well.
Italy will be a stout challenge. They're much better than the
second half fiasco they put on v the French. Marcus is very
popular with the Twickers crowd.
#Post#: 134819--------------------------------------------------
Re: England weigh up dropping Marcus Smith for Italy clash
DIR By: boroughquin
Date: March 5, 2025, 8:43 am
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It's a disgrace.
Marcus was our best player in the Autumn Internationals and the
most exciting and creative long before that. A series of losses
against difficult opposition in a team stifled by a
one-dimensional percentages coach, where he still was our
biggest threat, and now he's been shoehorned into an unfamiliar
position for 2 games.
Fin Smith is a very good player, better defensively, but has not
added anything to this England team that's changed our fortunes.
If the opposition didn't bungle opportunities/kicks, we'd have
lost the last two and everyone would be saying how 10 was never
our problem. It's the tactics. 6 passes thrown by the centres
against Scotland, 3 or 4 touches by the wingers. That's not
F.Smith's fault nor was it Marcus' before (despite people saying
he loves to 'do it himself'). The only clean breaks we had
against France and Scotland remind me who made those? Oh yes.
Would understand a situation where it's more horses for courses
with the FH position because the point of this post is not to do
Fin down who has done well and is a great prospect. It's that
Borthwick's many cracks are being papered over at the expense of
England's most exciting player of the generation.
#Post#: 134838--------------------------------------------------
Re: England weigh up dropping Marcus Smith for Italy clash
DIR By: pj61quin
Date: March 5, 2025, 1:27 pm
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Personally, I want England to continue to do poorly, & maybe
even lose ... so we can get rid of the dreadful SB & his dour
management team.
Short term pain, for long term gain.
#Post#: 134846--------------------------------------------------
Re: England weigh up dropping Marcus Smith for Italy clash
DIR By: RodneyRegis
Date: March 5, 2025, 3:39 pm
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--- Quote from: DOK link ---
>
> Well, I think in my heart of hearts I always knew this full
back idea would end in tears. I appreciate the idea of having
another play maker on the pitch, but in this day and age you
cannot have people playing out of position just to be on the
pitch. Marcus is not a full back. Doesn't want to be a full
back. Doesn't have the build for it. Doesn't play there week in
week out. It's a measure of his loyalty that he's given it his
all, but it's really not a solution. I think he's going to have
to settle for the subs bench and hope he gets to shine.
>
--- End Quote ---
The problem is that 'another playmaker' for England just means
another player who Steve will tell to kick the ball away.
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