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Speculation growing about big England selection calls versus Fiji
Speculation is growing that Steve Borthwick is set to transform the England backline by naming Marcus Smith to start at full-back in Sunday’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final, with skipper Owen Farrell also set to displace George Ford as the starting out-half.
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Bar the expected 71-0 rout of Chile, the English attack has been otherwise blunt during its four-game Pool D campaign at France 2023. Borthwick’s side was kept tryless in their Marseille opener versus Argentina, but the third-minute sending-off of Tom Curry kept a lid on criticism about their bluntness in that fixture.
However, they needed a fluke headed assist from Joe Marler in the 56th minute in Nice to break Japanese resistance after English supporters had been loudly booing the team just minutes earlier, while they required a 73rd-minute converted Danny Care try and a last-gasp tackle from the same player 75 seconds from time to secure the fortunate 18-17 win over Samoa last Saturday in Lille.
The kicking game, an approach that England have built so much of their attack on, failed to fire against the Samoans after Borthwick picked Ford to partner Farrell in a starting 10/12 combination for the first time since March 2021.
The inclusion of Manu Tuilagi at No13 also meant that Borthwick was reprising the 10/12/13 Ford/Farrell/Tuilagi gambit last seen in March 2020 four months after it was outmanoeuvred by the Springboks in the 2019 World Cup final.
Ford was hooked on 51 minutes last weekend in Lille and the arrival of Smith to play at full-back resulted in Farrell switching to No10, Freddie Steward moving to the wing, and Joe Marchant into centre where he was soon partnered by Ollie Lawrence, a 58th-minute replacement for Tuilagi.
Smith has started just once before as the England No15, producing a player of the match performance in the September 23 hammering of Chile, but he has impressed off the bench on a number of occasions in that position, most notably when England had to chase down Fiji seven weeks ago at Twickenham.
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England’s comeback was unsuccessful as they ultimately lost that Summer Nations Series game 22-30, but Smith scored one try and was pivotal in the creation of another finished in the corner by Marchant.
Naming Smith ahead of Steward would be a big call for Borthwick but so too would be naming Farrell at No10 and benching Ford, the player of the match in the opening wins over Argentina and Japan.
Last weekend’s performance ignited calls for Farrell not to be selected again at inside centre but rather than getting dropped, he is expected to move inside one channel with Ford the player who misses out.
England, who have based themselves for quarter-final week in Aix-en-Provence, will officially confirm their team to face Fiji at 1pm local time on Friday (12noon UK), with Borthwick set to discuss his selection at a media briefing starting an hour later.
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Comments on RugbyPass
wel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
4 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
4 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
4 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
5 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
5 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
5 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
5 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
238 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
90 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
20 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments