England coach Steve Borthwick believes Marcus Smith will benefit from playing on his return to Harlequins after the fly-half was left out of his 26-man training squad.
Smith was omitted from Borthwick's selection ahead of England's Six Nations meeting with holders France next week.
While the 24-year-old has not been counted out of contention for that match at Twickenham on March 11, it does cast doubt on his position in the matchday squad.
However, Borthwick – who recalled George Ford – is confident game time with his club will do Smith good.
"The decision was that Marcus would benefit from game time at his club and having that match sharpness," Borthwick said.
"I'm not picking a squad for France. We're not in Test week, we're in a training camp week.
"George played for his club at the weekend, and this is an opportunity for Marcus to go and play.
"Marcus had very limited game time against Wales because of the nature of the game, so I thought this was a step forward for him.
"On a weekly basis, you're making a decision on what is the right thing for the player this week to be then ready to play for England.
"For all our players, I'm making those decisions. For some, it's to go and get game time, for others it's to be in the training camp here."
Ford has only just recovered from injury but Borthwick, who worked alongside him at Leicester Tigers, has not hesitated in getting the Sale Sharks fly-half into the fold.
"We are blessed with some fantastic fly-halves in this country," Borthwick said. "They all have different skillsets and different qualities, so that means it is a great position of strength for England.
"George is looking tremendously sharp and in great condition, and is clearly a very experienced player.
"That adds to the strength we have in that position. I am looking forward to seeing Marcus play this weekend, and when you add in Owen [Farrell] and Fin Smith – who I have been hugely impressed by – it shows [it's] a position where we are blessed to have a number of top-quality players."
Max Malins has been left out of the squad while he nurses an ankle issue, with Jonny May called up in his place.
England wing Jess Breach wary of rapidly improving Scotland in Six Nations clash
Jess Breach insists England enter unknown territory when they meet a rapidly improving Scotland in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations on Saturday.
The Red Roses have not lost in the fixture since suffering an 8-5 defeat in 1998 but that record faces its sternest test yet at a sold-out Hive Stadium in Edinburgh, where a record crowd of 7,774 will be attendance.
Scotland toppled Wales in Cardiff in round one before being edged by France a week later and, having won the WXV 2 tournament in October, there is evidence the 28 professional contracts awarded at the end of 2022 are raising standards.
England remain favourites but wing Breach insists the element of jeopardy is good for the Red Rose and the Six Nations.
“It is going to be a really competitive game. And we’ve probably never been in this scenario with Scotland before,” said Breach, who has won on all 35 of her caps.
“Everyone’s really excited because it’s going to be challenging for us. Hopefully we can showcase really good rugby for the fans.
“It’s great for the competition. You can see that every nation is getting better after being contracted.
“Italy put up a great fight against us in the first half, so it just shows that if money is pumped into the game and players are allowed to go full time, the Six Nations gets better.”
Demonstrating the growth of women’s rugby is that Scotland’s victory 26 years ago was staged at an independent school in Edinburgh, compared to a packed Hive Stadium in 2024.
“It feels like we’re growing and heading in the right direction. Every nation wants big crowds,” Breach said.
“That’s happening at the moment and heading into the 2025 World Cup we should be able to sell most stadiums out. It’s exciting and who doesn’t want to be part of women’s rugby?”
On this day in 2004: Brian Lara makes record Test score of 400 not out
On this day 20 years ago, Brian Lara regained the individual Test score world record on his way to an unbeaten 400 against England in the fourth Test in Antigua.
Ten years after hitting 375 to claim the world record for an individual innings against England at the same venue, Lara exceeded that effort by becoming the first player in history to score 400.
By doing so, he became the first player to hold the individual Test innings record twice.
Lara reclaimed his record from Australian Matthew Hayden, who only six months earlier had broken the record with 380 in Perth in October 2003.
Lara’s mammoth innings steered the West Indies to a total of 751 for five before declaring and reflecting on his achievement, he said: “When I scored it before I didn’t know what to expect – this time it was very tiring, but I’m here again.
“Matthew Hayden must have batted very well against Zimbabwe because it doesn’t matter who you are playing against, it’s very hard.
“It’s a great feeling, but it’s dampened by the series result. Ten years ago the match ended in a draw, but this time we’re looking for a result.”
Upon achieving the record, Lara was greeted in the middle by Baldwin Spencer, the Prime Minister of Antigua, while England captain Michael Vaughan hailed Lara as “one of the all-time great players”.
“We all set out to achieve greatness, but he is a gifted, gifted player – throughout his innings we tested him with a few things but he was much better than us for those two days,” Vaughan said.
“He is one of the all-time great players, he has achieved something that has never been achieved before even with the amount of pressure he had on him before the start of this Test.
“He will go down as one of the greats of the game and it will take some player and some performance to beat his 400.”
Mahela Jayawardene went close with 374 for Sri Lanka against South Africa two years later but Lara remains first and third on the list two decades on.
Rob Baxter urges Exeter to have ‘belief’ against Toulouse in Champions Cup
Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter wants his team to take the experience of winning in France into their tough Champions Cup meeting with Toulouse on Sunday.
The Chiefs fought back to beat Bath 21-15 last week to book their spot in the quarter-finals but now have the challenge of facing five-time champions Toulouse at the Stade Ernest-Wallon.
Exeter are underdogs heading into the clash but are familiar with the feeling of winning in France, having kicked off their Champions Cup campaign with a thrilling 19-18 victory over Toulon in December.
Baxter knows the size of the task ahead of his team but thinks the result earlier in the season has instilled the belief to do something similar this weekend.
Speaking at a press conference, Baxter said: “The Toulon game was something that created an element of belief of ‘we are doing the right things and heading in the right direction’ amongst the players and you need that.
“I think it gives the players an element of belief that we can do it, go over there and play the big sides, but I also think it gives them a level of looking forward to it because, without doubt when you go and experience the atmosphere, the noise level at the end of the game was incredible for anyone who was there.
“That’s created the excitement and nervous anticipation around the squad this week in training which is exactly what you want to be.”
Exeter responded well to beat Bath on Saturday after they were thrashed 41-5 at the hands of Sale the week before.
Baxter revealed the players had clear-the-air discussions prior to their win last week, but the Chiefs boss now wants his side to back up the result with another good performance.
He added: “As a team the lads have got to do the hardest thing to do in sport and get to a really competitive level for two weeks running.
“At the same time that’s how you win trophies, winning trophies or big games is when you put back-to-back big performances in semi-final to final or last-16 to quarter-final, that’s how things have to happen if you want to win.”
France’s key man Antoine Dupont will be in action for Toulouse and will undoubtedly be highlighted as a key threat for Baxter’s men to deal with.
Baxter said: “If you know the opposition nine is a particular threat in the team, the focus isn’t necessarily on the nine it’s the things that allow him to be a threat.
“Dealing with Dupont will be very difficult if we don’t deal with the other platforms but that goes for any decent player.
“If we can challenge them in that way, that’s how you potentially limit his opportunities. You can create an environment which is harder for him to show it, that’s how we have to approach the game.”
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