England head coach Steve Borthwick has justified his decision to drop Marcus Smith to the bench as a way of ‘unleashing’ him in the final exchanges against Italy.
Marcus Smith had started all three of England’s Six Nations Tests this year, one at fly-half and two at full-back, but he has been demoted to the replacements bench ahead of their upcoming clash against Italy.
“Marcus has done some really outstanding things”
Whilst he has been in the starting XV, Smith has seen Fin Smith take his starting fly-half role this Six Nations to good effect, with the Northampton Saints ace kicking the winning points in their wins over France and Scotland, and now the Quins man has been usurped at 15 by Elliot Daly.
“We have got a lot of talented players,” Borthwick said when quizzed on his decision to demote M. Smith.
“Marcus has done so many things we want. He is a game-changer, but when he has the impact, it’s at a different time of the game now to what it has been.”
He added: “Marcus has done some really outstanding things. He has the ability to find space that other players can’t.”
With Borthwick now deploying a 6:2 split on his bench, the decision to have Marcus Smith occupy a spot on the bench whilst still having utility back Daly on the pitch does make sense; but it now will also lead to Smith coming on when the game has started to break up, which excites the head coach.
“The exciting thing I’m looking forward to is unleashing him when there is a bit of fatigue and space on the pitch and he comes on with his freshness. The whole of Allianz Stadium will be excited to see him come onto the pitch in the second half.”
Elsewhere, regular starter Henry Slade has been axed from the England 23-man squad altogether, with Fraser Dingwall occupying the number 12 shirt. The 25-year-old midfielder now becomes the fifth Saint in the England starting backline, joining Alex Mitchell, Fin Smith, Ollie Sleightholme and Tommy Freeman.
“In certain positions, we are really strong and have quality players all competing and helping each other,” said Borthwick. “You see that at 10, you see it at 15. I would love to have it in every position but it allows me to have slight tweaks, slight changes in the makeup of the team.”
Borthwick’s third and final change from the 23 which beat Scotland two weeks ago sees Leicester nine Jack van Poortvliet come onto the bench in place of Bristol’s Harry Randall.