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Jettisoning your best attacking player makes no sense – Andy Goode
By Andy Goode
Steve Borthwick’s decision to jettison his best attacking player for the game where you should have the most success ball in hand just makes no sense at all.
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Of course, he’ll focus on the impact that Marcus Smith can make off the bench but it feels like he’s the scapegoat again. He hasn’t done a lot wrong and has gone from starting fly half, been shifted out of position and now dropped to the bench in the space of a few weeks.
England have won back-to-back games by a single point, which should be celebrated after losing so many tight games, but their attack still isn’t clicking and it feels like the Harlequins man is the fall guy for a failing system.
If the men in white score a hatful of tries at Allianz Stadium on Sunday, as they should do, then it’ll look like the problem has been solved and the elder Smith will have to wait a while for his next chance, not to mention the effect it’ll have on his British & Irish Lions chances.
Fin Smith has grabbed his opportunity with both hands, whilst offering a bit more of the steady hand that Borthwick will want from his fly half, and Elliot Daly is far from over the hill at 32 but the timing of this move is the oddest part of it.
There’s no doubt Italy have improved significantly in the past few years but they were hammered 73-24 at home by France last time out, with the visitors playing the free-flowing rugby that Marcus Smith is surely best equipped to get England playing.
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Everything we’ve seen from Borthwick at club and international level tells us he isn’t going to play in that manner but the blueprint is there for how to beat Italy and do it in the style that will really get fans on side.
They need to keep the ball in hand though, whereas they’re currently kicking it away more often than any other team in the tournament. They’re only going past five phases with six per cent of their attacking opportunities and that’s a system issue, not a personnel one.
England only went through six or more phases twice against Scotland and you do need to have a good, varied kicking game in your armoury but it’s clearly part of the game plan to utilise it early in the phase count a lot more than most teams do.
It’s something we saw under Eddie Jones and has continued under Borthwick, who is obviously a coaching disciple of the Australian, and it’s hard to see England progressing unless there’s a bit more flexibility in the strategy.
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Alex Mitchell looks a shadow of the player he is for Northampton playing this way, Tommy Freeman isn’t getting his hands on the ball enough and Ollie Lawrence is only able to show glimpses of what he can do.
Fraser Dingwall is the glue for Saints so his inclusion should help with the cohesion of the backline but five of the seven starting backs this weekend play for the Premiership champions, so they have to be allowed to play the way they do for their club.
England need to play more heads up rugby and hopefully the players can take ownership of that, regardless of the game plan put in place by the coaches, but we need to see more shapes in attack because we’ve seen very little by way of a framework thus far.
Every other country seems to have a second layer of attack, pods of forwards with the ability to shift it out the back to a ball player, multiple options for a number 10 to choose from and surely we have to see what England have been working on against Italy.
The Azzurri have a solid, if unspectacular forward pack, and talent behind that with the likes of Ange Capuozzo, Tommaso Menoncello, Nacho Brex and co but if you can keep the tempo high and stress them in defence, it should be a comfortable victory for England.
The players won’t be thinking about their individual prospects, or at least they shouldn’t be, but not many in a white jersey have enhanced their British & Irish Lions prospects in the opening three games of this tournament playing in this way.
Maro Itoje and Tom Curry up front have probably reaffirmed what we already knew but the rest are going to have to show something different against Italy and Wales if they’re going to catch Andy Farrell’s eye, especially those wearing a shirt with nine or above on their back.
Jamie George will be hoping for a big performance in that regard on his first start of the tournament and on the occasion of his 100th cap. It’ll be an emotional day at Allianz Stadium after a tough year or so for him personally and having the captaincy taken away from him.
It’s hard to think of a more well-liked player, he’s been an incredible player for England over the years, I’m delighted he’s starting and getting to lead the team out and you wouldn’t bet against him being on the plane to Australia in the summer as well.
England have won all 31 of their previous Tests against the Italians so clearly defeat at home should be unthinkable. They’ll be desperate for a reaction after their French fiasco but it isn’t belittling them to suggest that anything less than a bonus point and a 20-point win will be considered an underachievement.
It isn’t going to be a walkover by any stretch of the imagination and it’s highly unlikely they’ll be exposed in the same way they were against France but if the straitjacket is taken off, it should be a chance for England to show their identity and finally shine in attack.
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How has Marcus Smith been jettisoned? Last i checked he was still in the matchday 23.
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I totally agree with Andy
I also don't understand the logic behind the decision to start Marcus Smith on the Bench as he can make Special things happen on the pitch at any time and personally I believe Borthwick is taking the Match against Italy Lightly. Some people are moaning about our previous couple of wins being Lucky but in the end surely all people will remember is a Win or a loss and if you can Win Big Games with people saying the team played Poorly and were second best out on the pitch must be Good for the future as the squad Will only get better / Stronger.
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Well said, Andy. To add, in multiple Test matches (New Zealand in the summer, New Zealand again in the Autumn and against Australia), England were winning when Marcus was either substituted or moved to fullback, and the team's inability to get over the line was NOT Marcus' fault. He was either off the field or not running the team.
We will never know if we would have won those games if Marcus had stayed at 10, but we could conceivably have been 4-7 rather than 1-7, which would have been a very good result given the quality of the opposition.
Borthwick bottled it, and even though every sane person knows we got away with murder against France and Scotland, he has made Marcus a scapegoat. Grossly unfair on an exceptional player.
Fin has been fine at 10, but nothing move. I’d strongly argue that we actually played better with Marcus at 10 and Fin has been incredibly lucky that our last two opponents left hatfuls of points on the turf.
MS was first in the England squad in 2017 (!!!)
Since then he’s won 40 caps, but has never contributed anything towards a functioning attack
No other player in the world has been treated with as much grace and patience. Since he’s been out of the 10 shirt England have started winning. Now he’s out of the starting XV England might start winning well.
That said, I feel a deep sense of dread about the summer. If Fin Smith goes to the lions, there’s a real risk that Marcus starts at 10 and England lose both tests to Argentina. The second best possible course of events will be for Fin to get passed over by Farrell. The best possible course for events will be for Fin to go to the lions and Marcus to get injured.
Go on . Tell us how bad Marcus is again . Yet your love of your life wee george can’t get a look in . SO , If Marcus is so bad , where does that put Ford .
Yes, your opinion is so stupidly biased as to make no caring about .
I even wonder if you are out of nappies yet as your comments are so childish .
Time will tell . Fin has had an easy ride , with 2 teams losing the game , not England winning it .
When he has to step up , when the opposition are playing well we will see .
England should beat Italy well so another easy ride .
Borthwick will not last and the sooner a top class team is
Installed the better .. this lot are ruining a really good squad with outdated play .
Paying attention to anything Andy Goode says makes no sense.
Garbage. He's not jettisoned, he's on the bench and will undoubtedly play. Italy is the place to explore some tweaks I.e. a sign that England are confident. Really cannot understand this continual gushing over Marcus Smith.
Like I said back when. Marcus should have explored that option to join the top 14. He’d make a lot more money and would become a star there. Maybe time it to get back to England in time for the New England coach to select him in 2027 leading to the World Cup.
Too late now. Pity. Wasted opportunity down the tubes. Squandered chance. A real bummer. How disappointing. Sad really. Devastating.
Totally agree. I wish more players would back themselves up like Jack Willis did and give the England mgmt the finger. Players like MS and Willis are once in a generation players. Jerking them around like this while their prime playing years whittle away is criminal. Think they should play MS and develop the back line attack around his playing style like the Quins do and see how thatgoes for the season. If it doesn’t work you have the younger Smith come from the bench and rescue the game. The problem with this coaching staff is they’re a looking for messiah player to solve they’re backline problems when they have a solution in hand already. Use what you got and innovate around MS - if it doesn’t work you can pivot to FS.
Agree. I've always felt Marcus would do much better if he took up a contract with some big French side.
I think I recall MS last 10 tests at flyhalf resulted in 1 or 2 wins. FS on the other hand has won 2/2. I think the heading to this column should be changed to reflect that. The Lions series is often a distraction. England need to win another WC. They invest far too much to keep failing. There is player depth. Management is the issue.
Ha if you think our last two wins were deserved and a sign the team is better without Marcus at 10 you are off your rocker! Two lucky wins against opposition that could should and would have beaten us 9 other times out of 10.
Saint Fin will never be so fortunate to have had two opponents in a row who left 10-20+ easy points on the pitch. A very very rare occurrence in tier one internationals.
England have a really good winning record under Borthwick with Ford and Farrell at 10 as well
It makes perfect sense. Marcus, Randall, Slade - none of them ever fitted into Borthwick's gameplan and now he's finally dropped them all at the same time. Not a coincidence.
Borthwick wants to double down on his prehistoric strategy. Italy was the time to take risks and embrace a more attacking style and he's done the exact opposite - a sign of things to come.
He’s a talented individual with a great highlight reel but rugby is a team sport & Fly Half is about making everyone around you look good, not just yourself. He’s had his chance and it doesn’t function for us unfortunately.
He is perfectly suited in the modern game as an impact sub, to change a game over 20-25 minutes. He’s proved he cannot manoeuvre a pack or team over 40 odd tests, as his game management isn’t good, but with more open attacking space, tired legs and his eye for a gap. He will be an excellent option to change a game from the bench, the 16-23 are so important to test rugby nowadays.
Not jettisoned just moved to the bench
To be jettisoned from there. Out the stadium.