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Marcus Smith benched as England change three to take on Italy
By Liam Heagney
Marcus Smith has been dropped by England for this Sunday’s Guinness Six Nations clash with Italy at Allianz Twickenham, one of three changes made by head coach Steve Borthwick following the round three win over Scotland in London.
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The English clung on to a 16-15 victory courtesy of a late missed conversion kick from the visiting Finn Russell and Borthwick’s attempt to fire up his team has resulted in the inclusion of Elliot Daly and Fraser Dingwall to start in the backs, with Jamie George promoted at hooker.
With everyone in the 35-strong squad that assembled at Pennyhill at the start of the week fit and available for selection, the decision was taken to pick Daly ahead of the benched Smith at full-back and recall Dingwall for his first appearance in 13 months in the midfield at the expense of the excluded Henry Slade.
England were heavily criticised for their blunt performance against the Scots, as they lost out 1-3 on the try count. To counter this lack of creativity, they are now starting Daly, the scorer of the crucial try in the round two win over France, and Dingwall, whose try was vital in the February 2024 win over Wales when he was last capped.
Demotion to the bench is the latest twist in Smith’s mixed fortunes under Borthwick. He was chosen as the starting out-half for eight successive matches, including this season’s opener away to Ireland. However, he then relinquished the No10 shirt to Fin Smith, reverting to full-back for the recent matches against France and Scotland.
Smith has now lost this alternative starting berth, though, and must make do with a place on the bench against the Italians where he is one of just two nominated backs replacements along with Jack van Poortvliet, who has taken over the scrum-half cover spot occupied throughout February by Harry Randall.
There is one alteration to the starting England pack, with George hitting back from the loss of the captaincy at the start of 2025 to Maro Itoje to retake his place as the starting hooker for his 100th cap after recent appearances as a sub behind Luke Cowan-Dickie, who is now a replacement.
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“England versus Italy is always an exciting fixture to be part of,” said Borthwick in an RFU statement. “Playing in front of our home supporters at Allianz Stadium is something we are really looking forward to, and we are sure it will be a fantastic game of rugby.”
Regarding George’s milestone, the coach added: “Reaching 100 caps is a wonderful achievement that reflects Jamie’s talent, dedication and hard work. He has consistently given his all while wearing an England shirt and the team couldn’t be prouder of his incredible milestone.”
England go into round four placed third on the table, one point behind second place France and four shy of defending champions Ireland.
England (vs Italy, Sunday)
15. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 71 caps)
14. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 18 caps)
13. Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 34 caps)
12. Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)
11. Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints, 7 caps)
10. Fin Smith (Northampton Saints, 9 caps)
9. Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 21 caps)
1. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 69 caps) – vice-captain
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 99 caps) – vice-captain
3. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 48 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 91 caps) – captain
5. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 26 caps)
6. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 59 caps)
7. Ben Earl (Saracens, 40 caps)
8. Tom Willis (Saracens, 4 caps)
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Replacements:
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks, 47 caps)
17. Fin Baxter (Harlequins, 8 caps)
18. Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 10 caps)
19. Ted Hill (Bath Rugby, 3 caps)
20. Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 13 caps)
21. Ben Curry (Sale Sharks, 9 caps)
22. Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 16 caps)
23. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 42 caps)
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Really odd. Literally everyone is shouting that Marcus isn't a fullback while Borthwick and Sinfield claim we need to have faith in him and give him more minutes there. Then they cut him against Italy? Weird. Again, no consistency.
if he’s going to get minutes anywhere it should be at fullback, but not sure why Borthwick should select a better fullback over him.
the job of the England coach is to help the England team win games - not to sacrifice everything on the altar of Marcus Smith’s development!
My gut tells me this one could be interesting. Based on the France result English players and crowds perceptions and expectations of how this will go might not be helpful to them. People want a bounce from the drab Scotland affair. They could end up in another fight. What then?
I’ve given up trying to second guess Borthwick’s game plan. Sure England will score tries this weekend - and Dingwall dropping-in in place of Slade is a positive in my book, but I’m sure Italy will run a few tries in themselves. Think Borthwick is just going for a bonus point win regardless of how many Italy score.