Marcus Smith gave England energy at full-back against Japan. Photo: Getty Images/Paul Harding
When it comes to defenders, two halves are company. Deploying three at the same time, as Steve Borthwick might have done against Chile on Saturday, risks creating chaos in the crowd.
England have not been able to mount many long passages of precise, incisive attacks of late. From the start of 2022, the end of the first Test and the start of the second against Australia can be determined. Seven months ago there was a thrilling final that salvaged a draw with New Zealand and the second quarter of an eventual defeat to Scotland.
Ollie Lawrence's try in Cardiff was successful and England finally finished strong with a bonus-point win over Japan last weekend. All six occasions except one — Lawrence's goal against Wales — were carried out by a pair of playmakers in tandem. In four of them, Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell were on the field.
This particular 10-12 combination has its skeptics, but it did produce some interesting things. Within the 10-15 creative axis, Smith and Farrell will be able to take advantage of the cohesion they developed as a 10-12 duo. In theory, the partnership of centers Elliot Daly and Ollie Lawrence would also provide better balance to the starting back line. Each of the world's top five Test teams deploys playmakers at full-back to complement their midfield.
What about three midfielders if Ford comes off the bench and pushes Farrell into the middle? in the center, and Smith will remain on the field? Well, there aren't that many precedents.
During the 2010s, Australia at times had three players on the field at the same time: Berrick Barnes, Curtley Beale, Quade Cooper, Matt Guiteau and James O'Connor. Beale and O'Connor, however, could cover both striker and full-back.
Saracens spent much of last season with Alex Goode and Max Malins, both age-grade midfielders, complementing Farrell . and Elliot Daly. Borthwick has three such players in Borthwick's squad for the game against Chile. Smith aims to emulate Goode as a link to Farrell, and Henry Arundell hopes to get into space.
This World Cup, Italy is experimenting with ways to combine Tommaso Allan, Paolo Garbisi and Ange Capuozzo, while South Africa could field Money Libbock, Handre Pollard and Damian Willemse or Willie le Roux together at some stage.
The situation is different in England because Ford is an experienced midfielder and Smith is a rookie in defence. Paired with Farrell, the two would certainly organize their teammates into precise patterns. England will undoubtedly be able to provide sufficient width. The other defenders on the field, in addition to the scrum-half and depending on other substitutions, will be three: Lawrence, Daly, Joe Marchant Malins and Arundell. Will it be balanced enough? Farrell will certainly face plenty of trouble.Instead, it might be more useful to look at a Ford-Farrell partnership with Lawrence in the middle and Daly somewhere in the back three. Neither Malins nor Arundell had the opportunity to play at fullback under Borthwick.
Smith's recent impact as a cornerback is commendable. Sometimes teams stumble upon tactical tricks that increase their potential. England showed courage here. This ploy, suggested by Kevin Sinfield, was almost certainly an attempt to ensure that the team could retain two distributors despite Farrell's suspension. Henry Slade was overlooked and they were never going to select either Smith or Ford at centre. Smith was tested at fullback in the warm-up defeats to Ireland and Fiji before Smith replaced Freddie Steward in Nice with about 12 minutes remaining.
England had just scored through Ford's pass to Steward. to move up to 27-12. The result was not in doubt, but their attacking play lacked depth and Daly had to move off his flank as a secondary playmaker. This was clear from the first minute.
As Steward collects the kick-off and returns it, Daley moves into the field from the left flank:
The next stage sees Ben Earl carrying and Daly sitting behind Ford:
The ball heads towards the near touchline line and Ford finds Daley, who pushes through a grubber spilled by Semisi Masireva and gives up in a five-metre scrum. :
England 1
From this set piece we see England limiting their back line choices because the approach is obvious. Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant are always on hand to cut the queue, with Daly circling around and Steward staying put:
Of course, Marchand continues the first phase:
England 2
A few moments later Steward, more comfortable cutting angles from the outlet to the center than linking up with a back three, pushes straight and offers himself to Alex Mitchell. Ford and Daley in the back…
…but the ball goes to Steward and there is a spill:
England 3
Daly and Steward kept depth at times to help Ford find width. Here Daly passes Ford behind the three-man front pod…
…and Ben Earl eventually breaks out onto wing:
England 3
This attack led to a try by Courtney Lawes.
However, here we see another example of England's limitations. Ford has Billy Vunipola and Marchant offering themselves a flat. Steward and Daley are on the wing, but the rollback option is Tuilagi:
The ball is unlikely to go anywhere more besides the short one:
England 5
The introduction of Smith has given England some encouragement on the counter-attack and in offside situations. He helps the ball move across the field after a deflected free kick:
I think this is an important point. Shows that England can be a little more ambitious early in the attacking sequence after holding Youngs' shot back (a la France). Earl > Smith > Ford > Lawrence and the ball flew across the field into space. This is how the Tigers developed. pic.twitter.com/BaHfM67Bif
— Charlie Morgan (@CharlieFelix) September 18, 2023
And leads the field with an intuitive support line…
…before taking a second touch and passing the ball to Ollie Lawrence:
England 6
In the final play, before Marchant's try, Smith sidesteps this mishap with Ford in the manner of a traditional full-back:< /p> 
He cuts behind Earl's short line, slides past Rikiya Matsuda and feeds Johnny May:
p> England 7
In many ways, Smith fits the role of quarterback. This position gives him space to use evasive footwork not only when returning kicks, but also when passing a second or third receiver, as he does in the clip above. From a deeper perspective, it can also scan and identify opportunities. The versatility of Smith, along with Marchant and Daly, also gives Borthwick the ability to pack six strikers on the bench. However, starting with the match against Samoa, it will be more difficult to include Smith, Ford and Farrell in the same matchday 23.
Back in February 2020, in the first game of this World Cup cycle against France, Eddie Jones gave George Furbank his Test debut at full-back after a Ford-Farrell double. Furbank, of course, became an emergency half-back and started there against Tonga the following November.
On the other hand, the midfield of Ford, Farrell and Henry Slade was probably the closest to England's back line of three midfielders in the Jones era. It produced a scintillating attack, particularly in the first half of the 38–38 draw with Scotland in 2019. Smith, Farrell and Slade were present when the All Blacks were duped at Twickenham last November. The other full-backs were Guy Porter, May and Steward.
However, the Ford-Farrell-Slade midfield also forced England to attack laterally at times without a reliable focal point. Slade sometimes looked like a passenger.
England cannot afford to take on either of them at this World Cup and are keen to keep the momentum going with a convincing win over Chile.
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