‘I want to get England’s attack flowing’ – Fin Smith

Guinness Men’s Six Nations: England v France

Date: Saturday, 8 February Kick-off: 16: 45 GMT Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham

Fin Smith, the fly-half, says his main objective is to improve the performance of the rest of England’s backline for his Saturday Test debut.

The 22-year-old has been picked at 10 ahead of the more experienced Marcus Smith, who switches to full-back, for the Six Nations second-round game against France at Allianz Stadium.

Fin Smith has only made seven appearances so far away from the bench.

“If I can get the attack flowing, get some of the some of the awesome backs we’ve got into the game, then I’ll feel like I’ve put in a decent performance”, he told Rugby Union Weekly.

“I want to give those guys a platform and real clarity about what I want from them, and hopefully allow them to excel themselves,” I say.

Ben Earl moves to open-side flanker and Ben Curry comes off the bench, making Tom Willis the only other change to the starting lineup.

Former captain Jamie George returns from injury and, along with the versatile Elliot Daly, is among the replacements.

Freddie Steward, who started at 15 in last weekend’s defeat by Ireland, drops out of the 23-strong matchday squad.

A France team that frequently kicks deep is best suited to counteract, according to head coach Steve Borthwick, who believes Marcus Smith’s ability to beat defenders with the ball in hand will depend on it.

“France pose a physical challenge and a very distinct tactical challenge, especially with that long-kicking game,” Borthwick said.

“Marcus is one of the most risky players I’ve ever witnessed in those unstructured settings.”

Fin Smith’s most-recent fly-half cameo came when he was introduced in the 64th minute in Dublin on Saturday.

Tom Curry and Tommy Freeman’s tries helped England close the gap to a final score of 27-22, guaranteeing a losing bonus point, even though England were 10 points adrift at the time.

England have lost nine of its 11 Tests, starting with Marcus Smith at age 10, with the only exception being a victory against Japan, since the start of 2023.

The Harlequins star prefers to play fly-half, but Borthwick has used the position several times.

He played there for almost the entirety of England’s minuscule 33-31 defeat to France last year after being injured when he was 15 in victories over Chile, Fiji, and Argentina in the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Fin Smith insists that the pair, along with third centrally-contracted fly-half George Ford, have a strong enough relationship to withstand the strains of selection.

He said:” We’re competitive as anything on the pitch and then as soon as the whistle goes it will be ‘ Oh, Marcus, what did you think of this? ‘ or ‘ Fordy, what could we have done better here? ‘

“Just really just picking each other’s brains about stuff. I think that’s really positive.

We’re all trying our best, and it ultimately doesn’t matter who plays in the 10 shirt over the weekend.

Willis’ excellent Saracens form has paid off, with his brother Jack playing for Toulouse and thus not being eligible for England selection.

The 26-year-old will make his first Test start after a couple of replacement appearances.

England lost 53-10 to France in the previous Six Nations game against England, conceding their best home defeat to them with Owen Farrell leading the charge.

With fly-half Matthieu Jalibert and wing Damian Penaud starting in their starting XV, France named their team earlier on Thursday after defeating Wales 43-0 in their opening match of the tournament.

” He’s got a real box of tricks, “said Fin Smith of Jalibert.

It could be a long day for us if we give him time, space, and opportunities to run with the ball with other people in space.