What Finn Russell would do with Smith/Farrell for England vs Italy
Scotland out-half Finn Russell has waded into the debate over England continuing to select Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell as a 10/12 combination under Steve Borthwick rather than have one player as the starting out-half and the other as the bench back-up and not as the starting inside centre.
Eddie Jones last year attempted to mould Smith and Farrell as a partnership in the starting England team, naming them alongside each other in all three games on the July tour to Australia and then in all four matches of the Autumn Nations Series.
The creative edge didn’t progress as much as England fans would have liked in those seven matches, igniting a huge debate over the winter as to what new head coach Borthwick would do when the Guinness Six Nations began. In the end, Borthwick opted to continue with the Jones tactic, pairing Smith and Farrell together at 10 and 12 for the opening match versus Scotland.
With Harlequins attack coach Nick Evans now assisting Borthwick for the duration of the championship, the Smith/Farrell combination was more effective than it had been previously but with England ultimately beaten 29-23 by the Scots, there has been renewed debate about the merits of the two established club No10s starting together for England as a 10/12 partnership.
Russell was the Scottish No10 who came up against the Smith/Farrell axis last weekend at Twickenham and he has now shared his thoughts on what has become a hot topic heading in this weekend’s England game at home to Italy. Should Borthwick persist with Smith and Farrell as his 10/12 when he names his team on Friday afternoon or should one of the players be kept on the bench, enabling England to change up their midfield against the Italians?
Appearing on the latest RugbyPass Offload, Russell said: “It depends how they want to play. Marcus has got so much X-factor, Farrell has got a lot more experience and is a different player to Marcus. So I don’t know. When Marcus plays at Harlequins he has (Andre) Esterhuizen outside which is really good for the gain line so he can play quite often off the front ball, off front foot ball, but I’d say Owen can probably control a game a bit better and Marcus has got more of an X-factor around him.
“So it depends on who they are playing and how they want to play and what they might want to go with. We thought they were maybe going to go Marcus and Own with (Manu) Tuilagi, so Tuilagi can get them the go-forward and they are going to have two ball players to play with and two kicking options because they kick it a lot but when they had (Joe) Marchant there, like they have got strike runners but not as much as if they have Manu out there.
“That allowed us to stop them a bit more from first phase. Not stop their attack, they probably just didn’t get the ball they wanted. I don’t know the players that well to play alongside them, so it is hard to say what I would go with and again it’s dependent… who have they got this week? Italy.
“It might be better to go with Marcus this week with a bit of X-factor but then how Italy played (against France), it might be better to go with Farrell to maybe control the game a bit better and then Marcus coming on later on when it is a bit more open and the Italians are maybe a bit more tired.
“Like I said, I don’t know the English players that well personally so it is hard to say what the best option is. But it was hard for them first game because they had a few injuries, a couple of centres went down so it was probably tough for them to decide.”
Russell added that Scotland initially believed England would start Farrell at out-half against them before an injury ruled out Henry Slade from selection and it was then decided to omit Tuilagi and start Marchant at No13 outside Smith and Farrell.
“We heard through it was going to be Owen at 10 but then they got a couple of injuries and we then started hearing that Manu wasn’t going to be playing and it was going to be Marcus and Owen, so we weren’t really sure what team to expect.
“It was hard to prep not knowing what their team was going to be, how they were going to play and who they were going to pick. It was an interesting week’s build-up.”
- Click here to listen to the full Finn Russell interview on RugbyPass Offload
Comments on RugbyPass
It was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to comments