Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Former All Black flyhalf delivers verdict on whether Marcus Smith is ready to play for England

By PA
Marcus Smith

Former New Zealand fly-half Nick Evans believes Harlequins playmaker Marcus Smith is “definitely” ready to make his England debut.

ADVERTISEMENT

Smith has proved integral to Quins’ Gallagher Premiership play-off push, with the 22-year-old closing in on 250 league points this term.

Quins currently hold the fourth and final play-off spot with three regular-season games left.

And Smith’s sustained excellence must give him an outstanding chance of featuring when England tackle the USA and Canada at Twickenham this summer.

Video Spacer

The Spirit of Rugby | Episode 1

Video Spacer

The Spirit of Rugby | Episode 1

Leicester’s vastly-experienced international fly-half George Ford will also be available for those games after missing out on British and Irish Lions selection, yet there are many who feel that England boss Eddie Jones should hand Smith an opportunity.

Asked if Smith was ready for England, Quins attack coach Evans said: “Yes, definitely.

“The way he has performed, especially the last month-and-a-half, he has been a big part of our success.

“You can see how much he has grown and where he is aiming to be. His aspirations are to play for his country. He’s desperate.

“I think he is performing to the level he needs to be, and I feel he just needs to be given the opportunity now. A lot of people feel the same.

ADVERTISEMENT

“What has impressed me is he hasn’t got too far ahead of himself.

“I think maybe the last couple of years he has focused on England, but (recently) he has focused on us and he has made sure his performances for us have been right on the money.

“That’s all you can do, put yourself in the window so many times. Hopefully, he has done enough, and I would certainly back him to do that.”

Ford and Smith’s head to head at Mattioli Woods Welford Road on Saturday was watched by Jones, with Tigers claiming a 35-29 victory.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ford, along with two-try England prop Ellis Genge, enjoyed a dominant first-half display, but Smith made a considerable impact as Quins fought their way back into the contest and ended up claiming two bonus points.

“I thought when we gave Marcus the kind of ball that he likes and the service that he enjoys, he looked really dangerous and he got us round the park,” Evans added.

“It was a good challenge for him because we haven’t actually played in wet conditions for a long time.

“It was a good learning experience for Marcus, especially when they were down to 13 (players), how he managed the game there.

“He has been having an absolutely unbelievable period of form, and he is learning every day.”

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

F
Flankly 2 hours ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

4 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline? Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?
Search