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'One of the worst 10s I have ever played with...'

(Photo by PA)

Isolation-free Joe Marler was in his element in the lead-up to Saturday’s England clash with the Springboks, initially delivering a scathing tongue-in-cheek assessment of Marcus Smith before going on to very much sing the praises of the youthful out-half who has excelled since breaking through at international level earlier this year.

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Having missed last weekend’s win over the Wallabies, Marler was back training with England at their captain’s run on Friday ahead of their first meeting with the Springboks since the 2019 World Cup final in Yokohama 24 months ago.

New Sale signing George Ford was the first choice England No10 in that World Cup cycle but Eddie Jones has now changed things up, placing his faith in Smith ever since the 22-year-old made his Test level debut in the summer series win over the USA in July.

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Freddie Burns on whether the Springboks will target Maro Itoje and Marcus Smith

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Freddie Burns on whether the Springboks will target Maro Itoje and Marcus Smith

Smith, who was also a mid-Lions tour call-up by Warren Gatland, is now primed for his fifth England cap in what will be the biggest game of his embryonic career, but praise for his fellow Harlequins player was initially in short supply from Marler ahead of the clash with the Springboks.

Asked what Smith had done to impress so far at Test level, Marler cheekily quipped: “He is one of the worst 10s I have ever played with and I refuse to give him any sort of praise. Left-hand pass is awful and the amount of kicks I have seen him shank, I don’t know what all the hype is about.”

Marler couldn’t keep the skit up, though, and his attitude changed when a follow-up query quizzed him on how early he knew Smith was the real deal as an out-half with all the tools necessary to run a team properly. “Probably the first time that I ended up training with him and looking at him in awe of how assured he was but not assured that I have seen youngsters come through in a way of ‘wind your neck in, mate’, a fake sort of front where they have overcompensated in order to survive in adult rugby, like an 18-year-old coming in.

“He [Smith] wasn’t like that. He was very much ‘do this, do that’. He was very confident in directing forwards, directing the guys around him and also sticking to what he loves doing which is ball in hand and his little goose step that he does and doing it with a massive smile on his face.

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“It was pretty early on where it was ‘okay, this kid is going to be quite good’ and with that was, how can we help? How can we help him stay at Quins because we would quite like him to be ours and to make us good, and also make his progression?

“I have actually managed to not contribute anything to that but luckily loads of people around have looked after him and he has got a great head on his shoulders, lovely full head of hair as well which upsets me sometimes. But he is a great talent and the difference is that he is prepared to work hard.

“He is not just happy to be like, ‘I am good’. His feet are on the ground. His parents are really great people. He has got a good family around him and I feel really uncomfortable about the amount I have just fluffed him, so can we caveat that with I still think he is really, really s**t.”

Whereas young out-halves could cause a negative reaction amongst a pack of forwards looking for direction, Marler never had any doubt about Smith and the influence that he wields. “Yeah, there is no second thought for me.

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“I have played in teams before where Nick Evans has gone down pretty early and the sub ten has come on and immediately you rally around the pack and go, ‘right lads, we are going to have to change the game accordingly’, or ‘let’s get around to the ten a bit more’.

“There is no thought about that (with Marcus) because I am confident in his ability. The only flag that I would try and help him keep on top of and want him to keep on top is him being himself and sticking to what he enjoys doing, how he wants to play the game, what he loves to do in playing the game and trying to get him to understand not to go away from that.

“He is the best person to be Marcus Smith. There is no one else that can be Marcus Smith. He is the best person to do that. So just be Marcus and enjoy yourself. I just love watching him play. He is great fun.”

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1 Comment
D
Dawid 1091 days ago

Marcus is amazing, I don’t like those that want to compare him to Carter… just yet. But very talented.

That said. I have yet to see him face a team behind a more dominant pack and solid defence around the mid channels.

This can be a baptism of fire where he makes his mark or learns a valuable lesson in his path to (most likely) greatness.

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J
JPM 58 minutes ago
Forget Ireland, the All Blacks face the real alpha of Europe next

Unfortunately you don't know anything about French rugby, coaches and players but still making a lot of assumptions and judgements to push your prefabricated and simplistic point of view that Dupont is manipulating everything and is a bad guy. I am not a NZ rugby specialist and wouldn't dare make such theories about what is going on within the ABs team. Therefore my advice to you is to do like Dupont and stay humble when you don't know all the background of the issues !!!


Firstly if you knew a bit of Galthié, he is not the type of coach who is going to ask advice to his players and even his captain about team selection. He is as stubborn as you...


Second Ramos has played a lot of times as 10 with Toulouse and therefore Dupont (in particular when Ntamack is injured and unfortunately it has often happened recently and for long periods). He even played 10 during the last 3 games of the 2024 6N and this was far better performance than the first two games with Jalibert as 10.


Thirdly Jalibert lacked of respect to a La Rochelle player so your theory is once again out.


Fourth as I explained to you Galthié went for a 6-2 bench and Jalibert can only play 10 which doesn't fit that plan. Furthermore as 15 Buros is better under high balls than Ramos and everybody is prepared for a tactical kicking game.


So you can blame Galthié for a lot of things (as you clearly enjoy doing at the end of your post and you should be very happy as an AB fan) but certainly not Dupont. Sorry once more for your conspiracy theory.


And don't worry about potential disharmony in the French team; they are excellent mates around their captain. Jalibert is well known in the French rugby circles to have not a strong character (and we saw that in the WC quarter finals as he is very nervous in any decisive international game unlike Ntamack and Ramos as for his late penalty kick vs England this year).


In conclusion enjoy the game tmrw night. It is good that the ABs are very upset; we should watch a great game of rugby. I hope for running rugby and not too much kicking. With 5 key players injured on our side (Ntamack, Baille, Atonio, Cros and Penaud) and 2 on your side I and various French fans see you as favourites. I obviously hope for another result.


If you are interested you can read a good article in the Guardian on the subject of France-NZ games.

92 Go to comments
K
KB 1 hour ago
The 'one difference' between Boks and the back-to-back All Blacks

Consistency hasnt been there they have many great players SA were also not unbeaten in the 2023 WC - NZ were in 2015 WC McCaw and Carter Nonu and Smith - SA did not have those Marque players in those postions in 2019 or 2023 - I wouldnt rank them ahead of the 20I5 ABs - They clocked up 60 points against France in the QF - Furthermore I do not believe for one moment SA won 2023 fairly no way - they were so favoured it became obvious that behind the scenes SA the nation bought the title - Their last 3 matches were won by a solitary point there were many contentious decisions that went their way that it became obvious it wasnt coincidence - Sport has been hijacked by a satanic cult just as is Politics

Some players coaches officials and sponsors are involved - they know who they are - its called Freemasonry - any sport that allows betting is corrupt - its not all about money either for these parasites its also about control - Lots of American NFL players have spoken openly about games being scripted - Football is also rigged Referees have been caught on film showing freemason hand signs - The 95 RWC final ranks as the highest and most obvious attempt at cheating There was no way SA were going to allow NZ to gate crash Nelson Mandelas reunification party - NZ were so good they had to posion almost the entire team to get a 3 point win - a Hollywood Movie ( theres your Red Flag ) was made about SAs triumph called Invictus


William Henley wrote a poem called Invictus


It starts


Out of the night that covers me BLACK ( All Blacks ) as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever GODS maybe for my unconquerable Soul ...( Olan says INVICTUS is an evil Malevolent entity who corrupted the Titans ... this is Mandelas double meaning speech ( hes a fraud ) - of thanks for helping overcome SA's adversary NZ - There is only ONE true God Yahuah - Only a false god would be complicit in Cheating Corruption and Harming others to win a RWC for a sick and sinful Nation ) the poem ends with


I am the CAPTAIN of my soul


SA will forever bear the stain of guilt and disgrace over their involvement in poisoning the ABs a day before the 95 RWC Final

12 Go to comments
C
CO 1 hour ago
Forget Ireland, the All Blacks face the real alpha of Europe next

I cannot believe that you don't think the French rugby team coach and captain are not discussing putting Jalibert on the bench in favour of Duponts club teammate that doesn't even play at 10.


This is a terrible, massive insult to a 10 and I'm sure Dupont would also be very enraged if benched for a player that doesn't even play halfback.


A good captain would've insisted to the coach that it was an idea of madness and either select Jalibert or replace him with another 10 if you want him to be reserve.


Jalibert may not be the world's finest tacklers but that's often not a tens main strength that the loose forwards and second five cover. An intercept pass is never great but they happen.


When any player is playing for his club then it's club first, respect doesn't need to be shown to opposition players simply because they're internationals.


Who exactly are you claiming Jalibert hasn't respected? If it's Toulouse international players then it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this bench demotion out.


The outcome of selecting Jalibert to the bench and he then throwing his croissants out the window of the team bus immediately prior to playing the Allblacks is a disaster that will be team disharmony as any team mates of Jalibert are in a state of anger and revolt so a performance that will be sub optimal against a team that is thirsting for revenge against France.


I don't know about you but the Allblacks are very upset they've lost twice in a row to France and want to put out a statement performance so this preparation by Galthie of creating havoc looks to me like a coach that is clueless.

92 Go to comments
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