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Harlequins 'disgusted' by comments made about Marcus Smith

(Photo by PA)

Harlequins have said that they are ‘disgusted by comments made about flyhalf Marcus Smith during a recent rugby podcast discussing the Lions tour.

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The remarks in question were made by former Ireland second-row Neil Francis during the popular Left Wing podcast, hosted by Luke Fitzgerald. Smith, who is of mixed Filipino and British heritage, recently flew out to South Africa as injury cover for Finn Russell and could yet play a role in the Test series.

The panel were discussing the merits of Smith potentially being involved in the Test series and the typically outspoken Francis was asked to give his opinion on the matter.

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“I don’t think they could throw him in,” said Francis. “A Harlequins outhalf with a David Beckham haircut and an Oompa Loompa tan… you just couldn’t throw him in.”

The comments have been heavily criticised on social media today, with many on Twitter accusing Francis of racism, although it’s not clear that the former forward was aware of Smith’s mixed-race heritage.

Both Harlequins and the Lions have publically stated that they’ve contacted the newspaper over the comments.  “Harlequins is disgusted by offensive comments made by an Independent.ie columnist regarding Harlequins fly-half Marcus Smith and await a reply regarding the matter,” said a Harlequins spokesperson today.

Tim Percival, spokesperson for the British & Irish Lions, Tweeted: “We find the remarks relating to Marcus Smith offensive and have written to the Independent to express our deep dissatisfaction.”

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England winger Joe Cokanasiga tweeted: “Oompa loompa tan” ???!! Idiot”

Smith, who was born in Manila, won his first England cap against the USA two weeks ago and has been enjoying a stellar season with Harlequins, guiding the club to their first Gallagher Premiership title since 2012.

“I’ve been following him closely for the past 12 months and I’ve been impressed with how well he’s matured as a player,” said Lions head coach Warren Gatland when calling up Smith. “Finn and Marcus are similar in that they like to play with a bit of freedom, so, for me, it’s as close to a like-for-like cover as we can get. We look forward to welcoming him to the group in Cape Town.”

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AM 37 minutes ago
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That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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