LONDON – Steve Borthwick expects “world-class goal-kicker” Marcus Smith to be back on target when England face oldest rivals Scotland in their key Six Nations clash at Twickenham on Feb 22.
The Harlequins playmaker was moved to full-back from fly-half in order that Fin Smith could start in the No. 10 shirt against France last time out. But the 26-year-old Marcus Smith remained England’s first-choice goal-kicker only to badly skew both a conversion and a penalty.
Those misses threatened to cost England the game until Fin Smith, sealing an impressive first Test start, converted a try by Fin Baxter and then added the extras to Elliot Daly’s 79th-minute score, as England snatched a 26-25 win over Les Bleus at Twickenham.
Victory revived England’s title hopes following an opening-round defeat by champions Ireland, with defence boss Kevin Sinfield inspiring the change of kickers.
But England head coach Borthwick, speaking after naming his team on Feb 18, said Marcus Smith would still start this weekend’s Calcutta Cup clash as first choice with the boot.
“He’s a world-class goal-kicker; we all know that, so it’s very simple,” he said.
“Marcus is a game-changer; Marcus is a player with incredible ability.
“With Fin Smith and Marcus Smith, we have two ball-players, two people who see space in the front-line and in the back-field, and that’s going to be very important this weekend.”
Borthwick expects England to face a Scotland side featuring Finn Russell, even though the gifted fly-half suffered a severe head injury when colliding with teammate Darcy Graham during a 32-18 second-round loss at home to Ireland.
“Scotland are very smart in the way they play and they have a 10 in Finn Russell who many people say is arguably the best fly-half in the world at the moment,” Borthwick added.
“He has a very varied kicking game and a really attacking kicking game and we have to be very sharp to make sure that space is covered because he can find it.”
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend is set to name his team on Feb 20.
England are bidding to end a run of four successive defeats by Scotland in rugby union’s oldest international contest, with the match first played in 1871.
Borthwick, whose reign as England coach started with a 29-23 loss to Scotland, insisted his team’s poor recent run in the fixture would be irrelevant on Feb 22.
“Everyone is aware of it but this is a different group,” he said. “This is a very different team to the one that played at Murrayfield (last year, a 30-21 loss).
“Nobody can change history but what we can do is concentrate on the present. That’s what we continue to do.” AFP
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