Kevin Sinfield says England’s Marcus Smith now ‘world class’ at full-back

By Sports Desk October 17, 2023

Marcus Smith is now viewed as a “world class” option at full-back by England after Kevin Sinfield was blown away by his defensive heroics against Fiji.

England are hopeful that Smith will be passed fit for Saturday’s World Cup semi-final against South Africa after he was placed on modified training alongside Jonny May, Manu Tuilagi, Tom Curry, Courtney Lawes and Dan Cole.

The converted fly-half ended the last-eight victory over Fiji on Sunday with a fat upper lip and bandage around his head after he was the victim of a dangerous tackle by wing Vinaya Habosi, forcing him to depart for an HIA which he passed.

Once again he is competing with Freddie Steward for the number 15 jersey and, after two starts in the position, Sinfield sees a player who has the bravery to match his attacking brilliance.

“We’d all agree he’s a world class 10, but last weekend I felt he was a world class 15 as well,” England’s defence coach said

“You’ve got to remember this guys has played around 100, 120 minutes as a full-back in Test rugby so far.

“What he’s done on the training field for us has been outstanding. You’re blown away by what he does now that he’s being given more time and space.

“If there was any doubt how brave and courageous he is then you saw it with your own eyes. The bloke got his face smashed in and threw his body into tackles.

“The guys are in full admiration for him – he’s just got his face smashed all over the place yet he wants the ball. He’s just a brave guy.

“And not just because he’s physically tough and brave, because to be put on a world stage in a quarter-final and deliver what he delivered was an absolute credit to him. What a great kid.”

Steward was dropped from the 23 against Fiji altogether and now England face the choice of reverting to his high ball and positional expertise or rolling the dice by retaining Smith in the hope he will provide a cutting edge.

South Africa possess a far smarter kicking game that could expose Smith’s inexperience at full-back, pointing to Steward’s likely return when Steve Borthwick names his team on Thursday.

“I’ve worked with Fred for some time now and thankfully I’ve not had to have many of these conversations where I’m trying to pick him up,” Sinfield said.

“Clearly he was disappointed, as anyone would be, missing out on a quarter-final, but he’s responded as we’d expect him to.

“He is a great lad, you know what he’s about, he works incredibly hard at his game, he cares and he is unbelievable full-back too.

“We are in a pretty fortunate position where we have three world class 10s and two world class full-backs.

“Our team has changed every game throughout the World Cup and Steve selects the team he thinks it will give us the best chance of winning that game.

“Just because Fred wasn’t selected last week doesn’t mean he does anything wrong, he has actually done a lot of great things and a lot of things right, but Steve and the coaching team thought it was the right thing to go with Marcus against Fiji.”

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    Ford replaced Smith, who had scored 17 points and set up England's only try in their 24-22 loss, hitting a potential match-winning penalty against the post before narrowly missing a drop goal.

    England had held an eight-point advantage when Smith left the field, but Mark Tele'a's 76th-minute try before Damian McKenzie added five late points proved enough to get the All Blacks over the line.

    The hosts' autumn series got off to a losing start as Ford struggled to find his clinical edge in the dying moments, but Smith does not lay any blame at his team-mate's feet.

    "Sometimes that's the life of a kicker, we've all experienced that. It's part and parcel of the job," said Smith.

    "I've learned so much off George. He's an unbelievable kicker, both off the tee and out of hand. It was one of those days.

    "It's nothing to do with him why we didn't win the game. It's a team effort. Every kicker in the world has experienced that.

    "We practise [drop-goals] as kickers every single day, but sometimes it doesn't go for you. We're all human and people miss."

    Saturday marked a third consecutive narrow loss to New Zealand for England, with their last win an emphatic victory over Japan in June.

    Despite that run, Smith remains confident that England can take lessons from these defeats to set themselves up for success in the future.

    "International rugby is very different to the Premiership and the experiences we're experiencing now are very painful, but we'll be better for them," Smith added.

    "Keep the faith. We've fallen again on the wrong side of the result, but we'll learn from it 100%.

    "These experiences will tighten us as a group, and it will be worth it in the long run. We will be better for it."

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    Mark Tele'a scored the decisive try for New Zealand, who beat England twice in July, in the 76th minute.

    England missed the chance to win it late on when George Ford missed a drop-goal attempt, after he had struck the post with a penalty.

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    With the pre-match build-up having been dominated by Joe Marler's jibe at New Zealand's pre-match haka routine, tries from Tele'a and Will Jordan put New Zealand in control.

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    "We really have to find a way of winning these close ones," said captain Jamie George. "We put ourselves in a really good position after 60 minutes.

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    England walked up to the halfway line to face the haka, something George explained was planned prior to Marler's comments.

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