Marcus Smith set to make England’s Rugby World Cup squad after huge Borthwick trace
England boss Borthwick has named Smith to begin in Saturday’s World Cup warm-up Test against Wales in Cardiff, together with his Harlequins team-mate Danny Care in from the off at scrum-half.
Livewire playmaker Smith will face a wide array battle on the World Cup, with Owen Farrell as captain and George Ford a long-term trusted fly-half lieutenant.
Smith seems set to be named in England’s 33-man squad on Monday nevertheless, in mild of Borthwick admitting the broader necessities about taking specialist half-backs.
“Right now I have got a pretty clear framework; in those key positions you need to have depth, three players who can play that position,” mentioned Borthwick.
“With the number of cards that are issued, Head Injury Assessments, then for those specialist positions you need to have depth, if someone does take a head knock you are looking at 12 days’ potentially and could miss two Test matches.
“You need to be protected and have the right amount of depth in those specialist positions, which means positional flexibility is really important in your 33.”
Smith struggled at instances throughout England’s combined Six Nations, as new head coach Borthwick received to grips with the Red Rose prime job.
The 24-year-old just lately signed a brand new contract to remain at Harlequins, rejecting sturdy overtures from France that will have left him exterior of choice limits to England past the World Cup. But Borthwick has outlined the esteem during which he regards Smith and the game-breaking qualities he provides.
“I rate Marcus exceptionally highly; he has an incredible skill set and an ability to find space,” mentioned Borthwick.
“I think he recognises when there are defenders that he can pick off. He can either pull them out of the line and put other people through space or find space himself.
“I think he’s worked really hard with Richard Wigglesworth on the way we want to attack and the kicking strategy and he’s really developed his defence with Kevin Sinfield.
“I’ve been hugely impressed with Marcus throughout this camp but also in all my interactions with him. He’s a young man who has already achieved a lot in the game but he’s got even more exciting things to achieve in the future.”
World Rugby has expanded World Cup squads from 31 to 33 for the France match, with England kicking off their marketing campaign by dealing with Argentina in Marseille on Saturday, September 9.
Marcus Smith is ready to make England’s squad
/ Getty ImagesEngland at the moment are prone to choose three scrum-halves and three fly-halves on account of that bigger squad restrict, which is able to present a buffer by way of damage or unavailability.
England will keep in Cardiff on Saturday evening after the Wales conflict, whereupon Borthwick and his coaches will maintain a last World Cup squad choice assembly. Borthwick will then converse to all of the England gamers on Sunday, to inform them face-to-face of his choice selections.
England’s gamers worth Borthwick’s readability and respectful communication extraordinarily extremely, and the previous Test captain isn’t about to interrupt from that routine now.
“We’ll meet as a coaching team on Saturday night, then on Sunday I’ll tell the players,” he added. “I will meet with the players and tell them their place in the selection process. We’ll be staying in Cardiff on Saturday night.
“What I’ve tried to do throughout is be really respectful with the players, be really clear in my communication with them, understanding that it is highly likely that the 33 announced on Monday will also have players outside of it that will come into the tournament at some point through injuries or similar, and past tournaments tell us that.
“So how I handle that communication with the players is vital to ensure that the players are handled respectfully and clearly and have clarity about what I require of them.”