Marcus Smith dropped as England name team to host Italy

Steve Borthwick has named an England team to play Italy this Sunday in the Guinness Six Nations that shows three changes – including the dropping of Marcus Smith – from the XV that lost 23-29 to Scotland. There was much criticism of the English following that six-point round one loss at home, especially the new head coach’s persistence in selecting Smith at No10 with skipper Owen Farrell at No12.

A debate has raged since last weekend about the ongoing merit of England starting two out-halves alongside each other, with the likes of Clive Woodward, Lawrence Dallaglio, Stuart Barnes and Andy Goode amongst those calling for a change.

Borthwick has now reacted, benching Smith and switching Farrell into the No10 jersey rather than have the pair start a ninth successive Test match as the England 10/12 pairing.

Finn Russell – Calcutta Cup hero on his words with Owen Farrell | England v Scotland | Offload Ep 63

Finn Russell – Calcutta Cup hero on his words with Owen Farrell | England v Scotland | Offload Ep 63

It was Eddie Jones who first experimented with the idea, originally naming Smith with Farrell for the November 2021 match at home to the Wallabies. Injuries to Farrell quickly shelved the idea but it was revived across the three-Test series in Australia last July and then continued throughout the four-game Autumn Nations Series.

Jones was dismissed in December, but Borthwick started his reign as England coach by last week naming Smith and Farrell as his 10/12 axis, with Joe Marchant chosen at No13 and Manu Tuilagi axed.

With Smith moving to the bench and Farrell switching to No10, England will go with a different midfield consisting of Henry Slade for the omitted Marchant and Ollie Lawrence taking over the No12 jersey vacated by Farrell. In the pack, the sole change sees Jack Willis take over from Ben Curry.

On the bench, Alex Mitchell is named in place of Ben Youngs, and Henry Arundell gets the nod as the 23rd man ahead of Anthony Watson.  The benched Smith will take the replacements place that was occupied last weekend by the now-promoted Lawrence.

Borthwick said: “We are at the start of what is a completely new cycle of England Rugby. The implementation of new systems does take time and the squad is showing themselves to be hungry to deliver the sort of performance that we know they are capable of.

“From the squad, I have selected a team for Sunday’s fixture that I believe is best placed to meet the specific challenges that Italy will bring. It is a selection of players whose form, individual strengths, and combined qualities suit the way we want to play against Italy in what we anticipate will be another hard-fought and entertaining spectacle.”

England had retained a 29-strong squad on Wednesday evening when a cut was made to the initial 36 that had assembled at the start of the round two week. The six players now surplus to requirement following the naming of the match day 23 are Marchant, Tom Dunn, David Ribbans, Tommy Freeman, Fin Smith and Manu Tuilagi.

England (vs Italy, Sunday – 3pm)
15. Freddie Steward
14. Max Malins
13. Henry Slade
12. Ollie Lawrence
11. Ollie Hassell-Collins
10. Owen Farrell (C)
9. Jack van Poortvliet
1. Ellis Genge (VC)
2. Jamie George
3. Kyle Sinckler
4. Maro Itoje
5. Ollie Chessum
6. Lewis Ludlam
7. Jack Willis
8. Alex Dombrandt

Replacements:
16. Jack Walker
17. Mako Vunipola
18. Dan Cole
19. Nick Isiekwe
20. Ben Earl
21. Alex Mitchell
22. Marcus Smith
23. Henry Arundell