Six Nations news: Why Marcus Smith being dropped could benefit England

Steve Borthwick named his England squad to face Italy in the Six Nations on Sunday and one notable omission from the starting XV was Harlequins fly-half Marcus Smith.

Smith has had a tough time of late, losing his place to Fin Smith after the youngster shone in games against France and Scotland.

At first, Marcus moved to the less-familiar position of full-back, where he admittedly did a decent job, but he has now been dropped entirely as Elliot Daly takes over at 15.

Sports News Blitz rugby writer Charlie Elliott analyses the decision to jettison Marcus and predicts that it may be a blessing in disguise for both player and team.

The argument for Marcus Smith being dropped

In essence, Borthwick is being pragmatic in his approach to the Italy game, recognising that his side are more than capable of winning due to their far superior quality but must keep it consistent.

Playing Italy also offers the chance to put some extra minutes into the legs of those who have been spending time on the bench lately, which is especially important ahead of a difficult away game against a rejuvenated Wales.

Daly certainly deserves a starting berth after some strong performances off the bench – that included scoring the winning try against France – so the decision to drop Marcus is not completely out of the blue.

While Daly does not quite provide the same magic as Smith, he is still a very good kicker and a great runner with the ball, two key attributes of playing full-back.

A lot of the uproar around the Quins star being left out is because he is often described as being ‘the most talented fly-half in the country’.

Although that statement is not necessarily false, talent does not always translate onto the pitch.

Having a player who can turn a game on its head is great, but England are likely to be dominant throughout Saturday’s match-up with Italy and therefore should not need such extra quality.

If the unthinkable happens and Italy builds up a late lead, Borthwick still has quality players to bring off the bench.

With Marcus being such a talent, it could actually work quite well to have him come off the bench and give his team a spark if needed.

Deciding to bench Marcus also means that there is no risk of him overly forcing the attack early on, something he has done previously.

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The argument against Marcus Smith being dropped

No game in the Six Nations is a guaranteed win and you should always play your best available players.

Simply put, Marcus is a better player than Daly, so he should be a nailed-on starter regardless of the opponent.

It is furthermore a risk to just throw Daly into a backline consisting of five players who turn out for the same club.

Those five Northampton Saints players will know each other's games to a tee and, crucially, have all played with Marcus at national level.

Disrupting that consistency by dropping Marcus for Daly runs the risk of there being no cohesion going into the last game, which – if France beat Ireland – could very well decide the Championship.

And with England having only played one game in the past three weeks, you cannot pretend that fatigue is a reason for the decision.

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Borthwick right to drop Marcus

Marcus is an extremely talented player, but that talent is not needed against Italy this weekend and it makes sense to start someone who is deserving of more game time.

It also sends a message to Marcus that he must work harder and make more responsible decisions on the pitch if he is to cement himself as a starter.

Although that might be considered as ‘stifling’ his magic, it is not like he is at the gold-standard level of Antoine Dupont – there is definitely room for improvement.

Test rugby is a different beast to club rugby, after all, and a lot of what Smith does for Quins is amazing to watch but unnecessary in the international arena.

Regarding the Smith/Smith fly-half debate, the best course of action would be to select one or the other on a game-by-game basis and not commit to one incumbent.

As that seems to be what Borthwick has gone for, I have to say that I agree with the decision to bench Marcus Smith against Italy.

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