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Marcus Smith’s six-word reply when England asked him to play full-back
Kevin Sinfield has shed light on the revelatory tactical change that England have decided to deploy regarding Marcus Smith following the recent four-game suspension of skipper Owen Farrell following his August 12 red card versus Wales at Twickenham.
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George Ford is now occupying the No10 shirt in the enforced absence of Farrell, starting the Summer Nations Series matches versus Ireland and Fiji and most probably the opening Rugby World Cup matches versus Argentina this Saturday in Marseille and against Japan in Nice on September 17.
With Ford – who is finally back in favour as a starter after a two-and-a-half year absence – deemed an out-and-out 10, unlike Farrell who has often run the No12 inside centre channel to accommodate Smith at out-half, England utilised Smith to great effect as a sub full-back in the recent defeat to Fiji.
With England trailing 8-17, he was given 27 minutes in place in first-choice No15 Freddie Steward and he went on to score one try and helped to create another for Joe Marchant.
Although the result was ultimately a 22-30 loss, Steve Borthwick saw enough in that performance to now have Smith training regularly in the full-back role in the lead-up to tnis Saturday’s World Cup opener versus the Pumas.
It won’t be until sometime on Thursday when the exact match day role for Smith will be confirmed, but defence coach Sinfield sang the player’s praises on Tuesday when asked at base camp in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage about the England training ground tactical change with Smith.
“You have all seen what a magician he is with the ball, can step with both feet, quick, can beat players for fun, so why not try and give him a bit more time in a bit more space than what he is getting at 10 and try and get him a little bit wider?
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“We have been working on it for some weeks now with him in training and he has been incredible out the backs. To have him in the team available, to have him as we have seen in the last few weeks the option of coming on at either 10 or 15 has been good for us.
“His combination with George as well, and with Owen when he has been alongside him, albeit not in 10/12 but 10/15 just gives us a different way of playing.”
Tell us more. It surely can’t have been easy to get a player who had been the first choice No10 in the final year of the Eddie Jones era to agree to this radical positional switch away from the role that he best knows?
“He embraced it straight away,” reassured Sinfield. “It was a question that was posed to him. ‘Have you played 15?’ His first answer was, ‘No, but I would love to’.”
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That enthusiastic response thrilled Sinfield and the rest of Borthwick’s England management. “The response was music to our ears because you are looking for tactical variation in the players we select.
“Then when you are putting the team together and then the bench understanding who can move where, understanding that we started to utilise some of this in training long before Anthony Watson had to pull out, he possibly could have been an option for us as well at full-back, so it gives us a bit more variation.
“So the initial answer from him was wonderful but we have worked on it in training and we have seen him play there. If through running somebody there in training there were any doubts we wouldn’t have continued with it. I am confident.”
Sinfield insisted having the small-in-stature Smith at full-back compared to the hulking Steward would not require a change to the England defensive system. He also took issue when it was implied that Smith was surely too small to be a full-back.
“You don’t have to be tall and big to tackle, do you? Have you seen Rob Burrow tackle? No, we haven’t changed (our defence system), to answer your question.
“It would be crazy of us to put Marcus in the team and not try and get the ball in his hands and give him space to attack. He has a different attacking threat to Fred. As you rightly point out, Fred is 6ft 4, 105 kilos, so he brings a different threat to Marcus when he carries the ball.
“You guys have seen Marcus for some time and seen what he can do with the ball, he is a magician. It brings something different, it gives us that variation. Depending on the centre combinations we put together, having that extra ball player coming from 15 can help us.
“Fred can do some of that but actually at 6ft 4, 105 kilos, you would probably more want him to carry the ball hard at the line. So it gives us some variation.
“It’s great to have it. It’s understanding that we pick the team that we think gives us the best chance of winning against the opposition and how they set up, but to have that variation in our team, in our 23, is really important.”
The 36-year-old Danny Care's incredible description of where he ranks this Rugby World Cup week against Argentina in his lengthy career. #EnglandRugby #ENGvARG #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/bK4xdh7gsm
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 5, 2023
Sinfield came to the England assistant’s job via Leicester where he also worked under Borthwick, including the year when they won the Gallagher Premiership title with Ford as their No10 and Freddie Burns, another out-half, often getting a run at full-back even though Steward – as with England – was also the first-choice No15.
“Freddie probably had more of a history of playing 15 if I am right, so I don’t think from all accounts Marcus has played a lot of rugby there. But like I said through training, you have got to remember these guys are training against the best we have and have done for the last 12 weeks and have been competing against each other – so it’s not like he has played at U15s and we have just decided to give him a run-out.
“He has been training with some real quality against Fred, alongside Owen, alongside George, alongside some centre pairings that we have mixed and matched and took a good look at and he has been magnificent.”
Comments on RugbyPass
“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
37 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
1 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
33 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
5 Go to comments