Marcus Smith has added spice and verve to England's attack with the help of a full-back. Photo: Getty Images
Beating a team ranked 22nd in the world, even by 71 points, will not convince anyone who was skeptical about England's ability to beat the best teams at the World Cup. A few hours later, Ireland beat South Africa in a match that was played at a completely different level of intensity.
Again, there are obvious caveats to England's effort against Chile, a team that has lost over 40 points to both Scotland A and Leinster since the summer of 2022. But this weekend was a step in the right direction for Steve Borthwick's men and there were certainly positives to take from their performance. Theo Deng has strengthened his position as second choice hooker, Henry Arundell has sharpened his finishing instincts and the defense continues to look solid.
Marcus Smith's performance at fullback, where he remained throughout the game, was another promising one. a development that can prove extremely useful later in the tournament. And not only because the 24-year-old footballer added sharpness and sparkle to the England attack.
Another opportunity presented to Borthwick by this bold position change was selecting Smith at number 23 and adding an extra striker to the match squad to split the six-two on the bench. The Springboks' catch of seven-one came within meters of ousting Ireland. While Borthwick may not like the term, he has the option of putting together his own bomb squad.
England are set to use Marcus Smith at fullback in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals
The England head coach often talks about maximizing the strengths of both individual players and the team. There are two main reasons why it is logical to consider the six-two option. Firstly, Borthwick's three midfielders — Owen Farrell, George Ford and Marcus Smith — are among his best players. Secondly, he has many options for defending the five.
Smith got off to a pretty hectic start on Saturday. In the fifth minute, when he went to the first receiver and took the ball from Danny Care about 15 meters out, Arundell was on his right. Instead of making an early pass and putting his striker one-on-one, Smith shoots and pushes the grubber forward. Cristobal Game converted his try from a five-metre scrum…
Smith 3
…but Smith was clearly upset. Two minutes later, Ollie Lawrence and Elliot Daly spun as Farrell and Smith disappeared from behind:
Farrell serves Smith , but he cannot connect with Max Malins and the ball flies into touch:
Smith 4
Against stronger teams there may only be one or two such chances in the entire match. Fortunately for Smith and England, there will be many more. This individual attempt, which demonstrated excellent acceleration, spurred him on:
Chile's kick was too inaccurate to challenge the rookie defender, although his kick was impressive. Smith watches Rodrigo Fernandez's cross and catches the ball before play:
Smith 12
Reflecting his position, Smith took a quick shot after announcing the goal. It was his mentality, as well as his acceleration and footwork, that made England stronger.
Farrell also managed a low-key and precise return from suspension. Indeed, he seemed a model of calm amid England's blistering start. Farrell subsequently admitted that the team «could have panicked a little» at 0-0 at the end of the first quarter and missed good chances.
Instead, the captain led by example. Look at him here next to Lewis Ludlum in the back line as Chile press in England 22:
Mathias Dittus carries the ball and Ludlam goes low. Farrell stays high, which admittedly increases the risk of a clash of heads and another card, but takes aim at the ball and lifts it to win the pass:
Smith 1
About eight minutes later Chile are inside the England 22 again. David Ribbans, however, rises to disrupt the lineout…
… and Farrell deftly releases Daley's pass:
Smith 2
He reads the body language of Domingo Saavedra, whose shoulders are turned inward, before sending Daley in an outside arc:
Daly takes the lead and England earn field position from which they open the scoring.
Ford is in in excellent form and followed it up with another confident shot after coming off the bench. More on this later when we discuss attackers.
Borthwick stressed that Tom Curry is ready to take part in the final pool game against Samoa, having served a two-match suspension. Competition for back row seats is fierce. Jack Willis played brilliantly in the match against Chile. His tally of 18 tackles was eight more than any of his England counterparts and he looked determined to rise up the pecking order again, having slipped down since his strong Six Nations.
Ludlam again showed resourcefulness and persistence, and although Billy Vunipola seemed to be back to sharpness again and looked rather reserved, Courtney Laws and Ben Earle were England's two best players at the World Cup so far. This is before considering locks and hybrids. Maro Itoje, Ollie Chessum, George Martin and David Ribbans appear to be in good form.
Borthwick went through his back five against Chile. This was the starting combination; Ludlum and Willis flank Vunipola:
Martin moved to the back row as Chessum replaced Ludlam:< /р>
And Earl finished number 8. Here he picks up and feeds Farrell, who contacts Ford down the street. short side:
Smith 11
Aled Walters appears to have timed his preparation program well as England turn into games and dominate their opponents. Could selecting six strikers from the bench allow Borthwick to further reinvigorate his team? He could have a starting line-up including Itoje, Chessum, Laws, Currie and Earle, with Martin, Willis and Vunipola or Ludlam among the replacements.
With an emphasis on positional flexibility in both defenders and forwards, Borthwick actually gave himself the option of picking six or two. Naturally, difficult decisions will have to be made elsewhere; most likely in midfield. Six-two could mean only one of Marchand, Manu Tuilagi and Lawrence makes the squad. All three centers made a different impression.
Ford and Farrell's 10-12 axis is potentially vulnerable defensively, especially with Tuilagi at outside centre. Marchand, of course, could start the game on the wing. There he finished against Chile, where Lawrence was ahead of Ford and Farrell. In this case, and if Steward also moves to the wing, England could potentially replace Ford or Farrell with Smith to move Farrell back to the fly half during the game and end up with a defensive line like this:
10. Ford or Farrell (at 12)
11. Daly/Arundell/Johnny May
12. Lawrence (at 13)
13. Marchand (wearing 14)
14. Steward (wearing 15)
15. Smith (23)
While this may seem like it lacks speed, remember that Curry and Earl can be on the field and in wide channels to complement it.
Ford and Farrell effectively repeated his performance against Chile, with Smith performing admirably at full-back. The build-up to Arundell's fifth try showed fluidity.
It starts with Fernandez being stymied by a white wall of defenders. Willis is one to watch:
He pounces on the ball after Chessum's tackle and intercepts the ball:
Smith 5
England are quickly in shape : Ford becomes the first receiver and Farrell is a slightly wider receiver. Smith is also on the 15 meter line:
The ball passes through the hands of Ford and Farrell to Lawrence, who carries:
Smith 6
Lawrence gets up and passes the ball to Farrell…
…which slows things down and feeds Joe Marler:
This screenshot shows Farrell on the far side of the ruck and Ford on the near side. This is just one way the two playmakers can probe the defense. In this case, when Ben Youngs picks up the ball, Farrell rushes under the gap to join Ford…
…before feeding half the fly. Chile are not as active on the near side of the ruck and another pass from Ford to Jack Walker allows the hookers to gain momentum. Farrell moves on to get into the ruck:
Smith 7
England keep going, Ford on the first move, flanked by Martin, with Smith positioned at the back. Chessum on Smith's shoulder….
…and runs as Ford finds Smith with a pullback:
Smith 8
On At this point, Youngs rotates to find Ribbans. Farrell is nearby…
…and happy to help Walker find resources for breaking and recycling:
Smith 9
As last week's article pointed out, Farrell always had to throw a lot of shots when Ford and Smith were on the field. At the point-scoring stage, England's form gives them a lot of options. First watch the ending:
Ford receives first with Max Malins inside and two props, Marler and Will Stewart, to his right. Lawrence is on the rebound and Smith and Arundell are approaching a third wave. For clarity, Earl holds the width:
This angle shows how the gap is created by Smith's rotation. and to a quick translation from Lawrence, a take-and-give principle that may have been beyond Tuilagi. It's also a great illustration of the depth the playmaking fullback offers in attack:
Smith 10
Even if the match felt like a training session by this point, another moment demonstrated the value of Smith's involvement, as well as a pair of distributors in Ford and Farrell. Again, structure is very important and you can see Farrell talking to Smith and Smith talking to Lawrence to create this shape even as Youngs hands his pass to Ford:
Ford passes Earl and passes behind Earl to Farrell. In turn, Farrell finds Smith around the other corner from Lawrence to hold off the defenders. Chile's defensive line is stretched, and Smith, one on one in a large space, breaks through:
Smith 13
England could well have reached the play-offs by the time of the fourth pool match. against Samoa, in which case they will be able to use it as a means of defining their selection strategy and refining it ahead of the quarter-finals. Having Smith as a possible full-back showcases what is probably his biggest asset at this level — evasiveness — and allows England to vary their approach significantly during the game. It has now been effective against Ireland and Fiji in the warm-up, and against Japan and Chile at the World Cup.
Borthwick is known for instilling unwavering concentration from game to game. He will have his own goals for the last pool game. Don't be surprised to see England try a six-two bench as Smith's versatility is crucial to this approach.
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