- England face a selection headache over who to play at No 10 in their best team
- Join Mail+ to get ahead of the game with Rugby Confidential every Wednesday and Chris Foy’s World of Rugby every Monday
There’s only one way I’d like to see Marcus Smith and Fin Smith starting together for England and that is by playing Marcus at fly-half and Fin at inside centre.
Moving Marcus to full back is a stopgap solution. Something to do in an emergency. He is one of the world’s best 10s but he is not one of the world’s best 15s.
By chopping and changing, you are losing one of your best players’ talents. If I were advising Marcus I would tell him to stick at 10 and fight it out, for better or for worse, even if that means ending up on the bench.
With all his talent, I still believe Marcus should be England’s starting fly-half.
Inside centre is the position Steve Borthwick really needs to look at. The centre combination of Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade isn’t working and it’s time to try something different. The 10-12 axis is so important and if I’m brutally honest, England haven’t had a 12 who is good enough to control our attacking game since Will Greenwood.
I always want a real ball-player at 12 and Fin has all the attributes to be a world-class inside centre, adding another real attacking threat to what could be an amazing backline.
Marcus Smith remains England’s best No.10 and must start their in the upcoming Six Nations
Smith is one of the world’s best 10s but he is not one of the world’s best 15s for England
Fin Smith has all the attributes to be a world-class inside centre in England’s best backline
England have got such quality players in the back-three and they need ball-playing skills to bring them into the game. The change from 10 to 12 is far easier than 10 to 15 so I think Fin would be perfect.
Playing week in, week out at 10 for his club enhances his ability to bring a real threat at 12. He doesn’t look that big but defensively he has proved he has the ability to handle the physical side an inside centre needs. In fact, I am sure he would relish the challenge.
Things need to move up a gear right now for England. They don’t look like a team that would win a World Cup.
I would like to see Fin starting in the centres alongside his clubmate Tommy Freeman.
Neither of them play in those positions for Northampton and I’d like to see Borthwick trying to persuade the Saints coaches to help him out there as part of the new club-and-country deal.
Even without George Furbank and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, England have so much talent out wide. I want them to pick a team that makes Ireland coach Simon Easterby think, ‘Wow, they’ve got some real pace’ when they arrive in Dublin. Seeing a midfield of Marcus, Fin and Freeman would really make the Irish think twice.
I’d like to see Cadan Murley and Ollie Sleightholme start on the wings. Two pure try scorers. Furbank will come back at 15 when he recovers — if George Hendy is available then I would like to see him given the jersey in the meantime.
Moving Marcus to full back is a stopgap solution that doesn’t work long-term for England
Tommy Freeman (middle) and Smith (right) can form a deadly partnership as England’s centres
I don’t think Freddie Steward is quick enough for 15 at the very top end of the game. I’m not talking about a team to squeeze out some results in the Six Nations, I’m talking about building a team that can win a World Cup.
To win a World Cup you need out-and-out gas and Freddie won’t worry the biggest teams with his attack from full back. He is another guy I would like to see tested out at 12, as well as Alex Lozowski.
Borthwick has plenty of options there and now is the time to try them. But as far as moving Marcus to full back goes, that just doesn’t sit right with me.
