SMITH HAS HIS EYE ON THE BALL
Farrell insists the fans should have no fear... ‘fantastic’ Marcus can run the show from No.10 against the Aussies
OWEN FARRELL insists England fans have nothing to worry about with Marcus Smith running the show against Australia.
The young fly-half starts the biggest match of his life this evening when two of the world’s top-four ranked nations clash at Twickenham.
A week ago Smith, 22, shredded a 14-man Tonga team already beaten and gasping for air when he came off the bench. That apart, his experience in an England shirt is restricted to summer runarounds against minnows USA and Canada.
Yet England have rearranged their back line to accommodate him, dropping George Ford, denying Farrell the No.10 shirt he loves and moving Manu Tuilagi out onto the wing.
And the biggest compliment Smith can be paid is everyone seems to agree the time is right to give him this shot.
Farrell tends not to go overboard on any subject yet, on the eve of his 100th international, could not have been more effusive in praise of his new team-mate.
“Marcus is a fantastic player who’s been playing unbelievably well and has come in here and put his stamp on it,” the England captain said. “He’s running the show in terms of attack.
“I’m here if he needs anything but, as far as him being himself and getting his game out there on the pitch, I don’t think that’s something people need to worry about.
“I really don’t think he needs encouragement. He has a brilliant head on his shoulders.”
England have won all seven against Australia under Eddie Jones, most recently sticking 40 points on them at the 2019 World Cup.
But they have lost two props to Covid this week and are against opponents who have beaten world champions South Africa twice this year. Time will tell whether Smith is ready but Farrell is not prone to hyperbole and clearly believes he is.
“Marcus loves working the game out,” he said. “How to control games, get the best out of people, improve. But probably the most special thing is his ability to unlock a game on his own. He has an ability to control a game and his team, but with a sharpness to rip a game open in a blink of an eye. Obviously he’s just started, but hopefully he keeps that going for the rest of his career.”
Jones has taken his time with Smith (above, and left with Farrell) , whom he first saw in a schoolboy match in his Brighton days before his Japan side caused the biggest shock in World
Cup history by beating South Africa. Less than a year later Jones was in charge of England, took them back to the South Coast for a camp and invited Smith to join them fresh from an A-level exam.
The 17-year old had a kicking session with Ford, after which the Leicester star tweeted: “Great to meet you Marcus, hell of a talent, keep working hard mate!” Five years on, Ford is on the outside looking in.