Lions hopeful Marcus Smith compared to 'The King'

Two-time British and Irish Lions tourist and former England full-back Bob Hiller believes Marcus Smith is the closest player of the modern age to Barry ‘The King’ John.

John, who died earlier this year aged 79. was revered as rugby royalty in his days in the Wales and Lions No10 jersey, earning his nickname on the 1971 tour to New Zealand following a string of brilliant displays.

When John passed away, Gareth Edwards described his half-back partner as “a one-off”, eulogising about John’s ability to read what was in from of him and play on instinct.

Australian Rugby From Green to Gold Strategy

Australian Rugby From Green to Gold Strategy

Those qualities are found in Smith, too, in the eyes of Hiller, who toured with John on the 1968 trip to South Africa as well as New Zealand three years later.

“He reminds me so much of Barry John. Barry John was a free spirit and so is Marcus. He is great to watch and he is doing well. He scores tries out of situations where you wouldn’t believe a try was possible. He is very competitive as well. I think at some stage he is going to make a good captain,” said Hiller, who scored 219 points for the Lions in 19 appearances.

Barry John was known simply as ‘The King’ 👑

Here’s one reason why… (there are many) ⬇️#BBCRugby #BarryJohn pic.twitter.com/jiyBIAZJgL

— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) February 4, 2024

As ringing endorsements go, they don’t come much better than being compared to John if you’re a fly-half, even though the Welsh legend won the last of his 30 international caps over half a century ago.

Time has not dimmed the memories of how John would break the line and ghost past defenders at will and Hiller hopes to see Smith leave his mark on the Lions tour to Australia next year.

Hiller, who as President of Harlequins, watches Smith regularly has no doubt he’ll make the cut and do well if allowed to play to his strengths.

“Carwyn James, a fantastic coach, played Barry just the right way. It was no good giving Barry umpteen moves, set positions and things because Barry didn’t know what he was going to do with the ball until he got it. He had great players around him like Mike Gibson, John Dawes and Gareth, of course, and the New Zealanders just couldn’t cope,” he said.

“It was all off the cuff in a way, and it is very difficult to counteract that. Marcus is just the same, he is a genius who does things that other people can only dream of. He has got to have a coach that will allow him to do that. He still manages to do outrageous things in internationals and get away with it, and I hope he is always allowed to do that. He’s a great lad.”

With Scotland’s Finn Russell another of the favourites to claim one of the Lions’ fly-half berths, head coach Andy Farrell will have no shortage of creativity to call upon if he does decide to go down that route.

“He (Russell) is very much the same as well, he is unpredictable in the nicest sense of the word and does the unusual, and a good coach will always allow players like that to express themselves,” added Hiller.