LONG READ Despite the Croke Park horror show, Marcus Smith shouldn't be discounted from Lions conversation

How much store should Andy Farrell set by a single game when it comes to his Lions squad? Not too much, Marcus Smith will be desperately hoping. Harlequins’ monstering at the hands of Leinster last weekend in front of the watching Lions head coach was a day Smith will want to forget in a hurry. In the sink-or-swim environment of Croke Park, the only trace of him by the end was the odd bubble coming to the surface.

Playing behind a beaten pack and ensnared by Leinster’s swarming defence, he didn’t even have a hat let alone a rabbit to pull out of it.

The scale of the 62-0 defeat was hardly Smith’s fault alone but, caught in the Leinster vice, he endured a chastening afternoon.

Where that leaves him now in Lions terms is open to question.

Farrell is a level-headed operator, not prone to impulsive selection mood swings. He will think bigger picture rather than just one game, you would imagine. But still, the evidence of his own eyes will be hard to put aside.

Chris Robshaw, the former Harlequins and England captain, was in Dublin at the weekend. He accepts that Smith was off the boil but his view is that any judgment on him in Lions terms needs context.

“If you had swapped Sam Prendergast and Marcus around it would be interesting to see how performances would have played out. You put Marcus behind that other pack and I imagine things would have looked quite different,” said Robshaw.

“He was England’s best player in the autumn. We were in games because of him. He is a match winner and he can make things happen.”

Nevertheless Robshaw, whose own Lions tour hopes went up in flames when England were thumped in the 2013 Grand Slam decider to Wales, knows there are see-saw fixtures for players in the ‘possibles’ category like Smith.

While the Six Nations was the testing ground on which most of the major selection calls for Australia will have been made, the Champions Cup knockout fortnight represents an additional chance to sway an either/or call ahead of the May 8 announcement.

“It’s largely based on the back of the Six Nations but these two rounds of the competition are very important too,” said Robshaw.

It didn’t go Smith’s way in Dublin. However, it makes little sense to assess him on a set of circumstances that are highly unlikely to play out again Down Under.

“Someone like Jack Willis didn’t play in the Six Nations for the reasons we know but look how well he performed against both Currys for Toulouse. For him to get man of the match, he would have known that was a really important performance.

“A player like Josh van der Flier, who was pretty quiet in the Six Nations by his own standards, was brilliant on the weekend and reminded people what a player he is. It will have done a player like him a world of good.

“But it can go the other way if things don’t go well for you too.”

It didn’t go Smith’s way in Dublin. However, it makes little sense to assess him on a set of circumstances that are highly unlikely to play out again Down Under.

Leinster’s defence – the best in Europe – sent Smith down some painful cul-de-sacs. Against it, he looked flustered and ineffectual. The Wallabies, though, operate a very different style of rearguard to the hard blitz of Jacques Nienaber.

Smith should have more time and space and a lot more front foot ball in Australia. And in that situation, there are few more dangerous operators around.

The fast grounds will suit him and so too will the fact that he would be playing with – rather than against – many of the Leinstermen who made his life such a misery at Croke Park. As Danny Care told the BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast this week, he would appreciate that.

“Me and Marcus were talking after the game and we said that it would be nice, just for one game, to have that many unbelievable players around you,” said Care.

“You throw a ball to a Garry Ringrose, you know he is going to do something special. You throw it to Caelan Doris, he’s going to win gainline and front-foot ball. It’s tough trying to make those decisions when lads are getting banged backwards.”

You would have thought Finn Russell has done enough to be the first-choice No 10 for the Lions. So you are probably taking three fly-halves, including one who can play another position quite well.

Chris Robshaw

Four years ago, Smith made it out to South Africa on the Lions tour as an injury replacement for Finn Russell.

Six months ago, when he was England’s starting fly-half, he would have been in most people’s likely squads for this summer’s tour.

A disappointing personal Six Nations, in which he lost his favoured No 10 jersey to Fin Smith, had already made that less certain, even before the events of last Saturday.

Robshaw’s view is that Farrell needs to project forward.

Smith’s shunt backwards to No 15 with England might actually be of help to him when it comes to solving his interlinked backline selection puzzle.

“You would have thought Finn Russell has done enough to be the first-choice No 10 for the Lions. So you are probably taking three fly-halves, including one who can play another position quite well,” said Robshaw.

“Blair Kinghorn, I’d say, is guaranteed to go in that full-back role, probably as first choice, but he may well have the Top 14 final to play with Toulouse before joining up with the squad and miss the first couple of matches. So the Lions will need players who can cover 15 and that really favours Marcus.

“He has slipped down the ranks as a fly-half but, playing at 15 for England, he was able to show his versatility as a starter or coming off the bench for impact. That comes in handy for the Lions.”

Dublin has gone. All the 26-year-old needs to do is show Farrell he has not been laid low by the experience. With Quins out of Europe, he has just two more games – against Sale and Leicester in the Premiership – to do that.

“Confidence in sport is a funny thing. He just needs the bounce of a ball to go his way and all of a sudden things can change for him,” said Robshaw.

“Marcus has a lot to offer. I think he definitely deserves to be on the Lions tour.”

For what it is worth, I agree. If I was Farrell, I would pretend Croke Park never happened.

Chris Robshaw is part of the Premier Sports team showing every game live in the Investec Champions Cup. All eight quarter-finals across both EPCR competitions will be shown live on Premier Sports this weekend. Join the home of rugby for just £11.99 a month. Visit www.premiersports.tv