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The England verdict on how the Smith/Randall combination performed

(Photo by Luigi Mariani/LiveMedia/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Marcus Smith’s new Six Nations half-back partnership with Harry Randall has been given a seal of approval by England boss Eddie Jones. Beaten at Murrayfield last weekend with centurion scrum-half Ben Youngs playing the entire match versus Scotland, the decision was taken this week to start Randall in the round two match in Italy to see if his high tempo style was a suitable choice to liven up the visitors’ attack in tandem with Smith.   

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England came away with a five-try victory in which Jones made use of the Smith/Randall partnership for the opening 55 minutes, only withdrawing the Bristol scrum-half eleven minutes after the 44th-minute bonus point try was scored by Elliot Daly, and it was then left for Young to see out the win alongside Smith. 

It was the first time since the Summer Series wins last July over the USA and Canada that Smith had played at Test level with Randall, who missed the entire Autumn Nations Series through injury and was left rooted to the bench and unused last weekend in Edinburgh.

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Jones suggested he had enjoyed what he had seen from the pair but quipped it wouldn’t be until he had a couple of glasses of red wine later on Sunday night that his thoughts would turn to the future and ponder might Smith and Randall be the starting half-back partnership for the February 27 round three match at home to Wales.  

“I’ll have a think about that tonight, I’ll have a nice glass of red or maybe two and ponder the future,” he said in the aftermath of the 33-0 England success at the Stadio Olimpico. “I don’t have to do that now but I will definitely have a think about that tonight. We have got a training week next week, we will bring them in and start playing with the combinations for Wales.

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“They did well today, but it was in completely different conditions. That is like the fastest pitch we will play on in the Six Nations. Beautiful weather conditions. It was like a summer’s day so the ball was able to fizz around. As we know at Twickenham it is going to be a wet pitch, it is going to be more difficult to play like that.   

“They made a really good start. There was a lot of pace on the ball early. The ruck ball was really quick and I thought they combined nicely, particularly Marcus took the ball to the line really well in patches and Harry added that little bit of zip-zip. 

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“Look, nine and ten is about being brilliant at the basics, about doing the simple things really well over and over again and being absolute clear communicators on the field, Harry more so to the forwards and Marcus to the back rowers and the back and they are making a good and steady progress in both of those areas.”

Speaking specifically about Smith, who opened the scoring in Rome with a try and was voted player of the match by the sponsors, Jones added: “Look, there is no ceiling to how good he can be. If he keeps on wanting to get better, keeps having a learning mindset, he could be an absolutely outstanding player at Test level by the World Cup (in 2023) and that is pretty important to have a good ten.”

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit
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