Jones taking a shine to Smith
TEENAGE hotshot Marcus Smith is being hot-housed to see if he has what it takes to become England’s World Cup bolter by Eddie Jones.
As Jones chopped four of his Lions, the 18-year-old Harlequin, who trained with the national squad in the summer, was again named by England for next week’s training camp in Oxford.
While Jonathan Joseph, Kyle Sinckler, George Kruis and James Haskell were experiencing the downside of the international roller-coaster, Smith was rewarded for his promising start to the Premiership season.
The England coach’s thinking in calling up the fresh-faced playmaker, who only sat his A levels in the summer, revolves not so much around this autumn’s Tests but the 2019 World Cup.
“We have 80 per cent of the squad about right but we are looking for the X-factor rookie to come out. There’s a place for that sort of player and it could be someone like Marcus Smith,” said Jones.
“It’s clear that he has got talent. What we don’t know is whether he has got the desire, the work ethic, the application and the ability to keep his feet grounded.
“You read the newspapers now and he’s the next Jonny Wilkinson, but he hasn’t done anything. He has hardly kicked a ball but he is definitely worth looking at and definitely worth bringing forward and seeing how far we can take him.
“He has got a lot to work on in his game and what we want to do is educate him so that, in two weeks, five months or two years, he’s ready to play Test rugby for England.
“He’s fifth-choice fly-half, so he’s going to be shining boots and holding bags. We’re sure he’ll do that well. He went to a good public school, so he’s well educated to do that.”
Smith first came to Jones’ attention as a schoolboy at Brighton College when the REPORTS Japan team he then coached were training there at the 2015 World Cup.
Smith was born in Manila – he has a Filipino mother – and started playing rugby in Singapore before his parents moved to Brighton, where his father hails from, when he was 13. Having missed out on selection for the London and South-east age-group team, he was then given special dispensation to represent the North and fought his way through to play for England at Under-16 and U18 level.
Smith was picked to tour with the U20s last summer but he was withdrawn to play sevens for his club and to train under Jones with England for the first time.
He has taken the leap into the Premiership in his stride this season and takes his place in a 33-man squad that includes one other uncapped player in Bath hooker Tom Dunn.
The snub to Dunn’s Bath club-mate Joseph, who has played in 19 out of Jones’ 20 matches in charge, is a surprise but it appears to be a judiciously placed boot to the backside after a quiet start to his season.
In the case of Sinckler, his exclusion is more a reminder to keep his feet on the ground after featuring off the bench in all three Lions Tests in New Zealand.
Jones’ view is that Kruis, who returns for Saracens against Sale today, and Haskell, who made his first appearance of the season last weekend, would be best served remaining with their clubs as they try to get into their strides after early-season injuries. Haskell, though, would be right to be concerned at the promotion above him of young thrusters Sam Underhill and Tom Curry, who both excelled on the South America tour.
“Hask has got some work to do on his game but he knows what he has got to do and I know he’s going to attend to that very seriously,” said Jones. “The two young guys have something about them.
“The great thing, if you look across the squad, is there’s real competition for places and no player can feel like they can just turn up, bowl his 10 overs for 30 runs and be happy. You can’t do that any more for England.
“You have to be at your best because the only way we’re going to be the best team in the world is if we’ve got that.”
ENGLAND SQUAD
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