England and Marcus Smith emphatically silence critics in stunning Six Nations win

Jared Wright
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England's Marcus Smith, left, and teammate celebrate during the Six Nations rugby union international match between England and Ireland, at Twickenham stadium, London Saturday, March 9, 2024.

England's Marcus Smith, left, and teammate celebrate during the Six Nations rugby union international match between England and Ireland, at Twickenham stadium, London Saturday, March 9, 2024.

Steve Borthwick’s England team silenced some of their critics on Saturday as Marcus Smith slotted a drop-goal to seal a 23-22 victory over Ireland at Twickenham.

England came under heavy criticism following their Calcutta Cup loss to Scotland but went a long way in changing opinion when they ended Ireland’s back-to-back Grand Slam Six Nations bid, as the Irish did to them in 2017.

The result also saw Ireland lose a Six Nations match for the first time since 2022, a run of 11 successive victories.

The knives were certainly out for England and Borthwick over the past fortnight with many coming out to rub salt in the wounds of the side who had lost just one game this year and finished third at the World Cup.

Proving the doubters wrong

Ex-England hooker Brian Moore was one of those who slammed the showing against Scotland but may well be a bit more pleased in his next column.

“You have to hope that the litany of very basic handling errors that England committed against Scotland was a simple aberration, but until England put together a coherent 80 minutes of play, the noises of discontent are going to grow,” Moore wrote in the Telegraph.

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While it wasn’t a performance that the 2010s All Blacks produced regularly on attack, it was very much an upgraded from the shift at Murrayfield.

Meanwhile, ex-England fly-half Andy Goode called for Borthwick’s head and wrote that his charges were “so far behind Ireland, Scotland and France again”.

Hmmm… Not quite too sure about that one Andy.

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Marcus Smith delivers the killer blow

But perhaps the biggest egg in the face has to go to ex-Springboks centre Robbie Fleck, who questioned the calibre of Smith, saying that he doesn’t have the “killer blow” to knock out the top sides.

“He is a great club player, and against lesser Test sides, he will always open them up,” Fleck said on the Boks Office podcast.

“But if you’re marking yourself against the best, which is the Boks and Irish defence systems, I don’t think he can unlock them.

“I think he’s too erratic, he will try the miracle stuff which may come off but in terms of a general game management point of view, I don’t think he’s got what it takes to deliver the killer blow against those top sides.

“The one guy I do think can do that is Finn Russell. He’s proven it time and time again. But Marcus is not the answer for me.”

Smith emphatically shot that down as the chief orchestrator along with Danny Care as England set up camp in the Ireland 22. Whilst he was playing with a penalty advantage, his killer edge kicked in, and he opted to take a crack at the drop goal to seal the win.

READ MORE: Marcus Smith drop-goal denies Ireland back-to-back Six Nations Grand Slams as England shine

England Marcus Smith

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