England to go with Owen Farrell at fly-half and Marcus Smith at full-back for Fiji clash – report
Owen Farrell and Marcus Smith in England training 2023.
England head coach Steve Borthwick appears set to name captain Owen Farrell at fly-half for their Rugby World Cup quarter-final with Fiji, according to reports.
That means the Red Rose will ditch the 10-12 playmaking axis they trialled against Samoa, with George Ford dropping out of the starting XV.
The Ford-Farrell combination was a favourite for previous boss Eddie Jones and Borthwick was keen to see them play together.
Injury and suspension had previously denied him that opportunity before the duo finally started in tandem against the Pacific Islanders.
Failed to work
However, following that disappointing team performance, which saw England scrape an 18-17 triumph, the Daily Mail are reporting that Borthwick will go with Farrell at pivot.
Ford has been one of the country’s star players at the World Cup, playing a crucial role in their important 27-10 success against Argentina, but he looks set to miss out this weekend.
England will still have another playmaker in the backline, though, with the Mail predicting that Marcus Smith will line up at full-back.
Smith stood out against Chile in the 71-0 thrashing of the South Americans and the coaches have been impressed with how he has adapted to the position.
Some pundits have suggested moving Freddie Steward to wing to accommodate the talented Harlequin, which would keep that high ball security, but it appears that Jonny May and Elliot Daly will join Smith in the back three.
Steward has been an automatic starter since making his international debut in 2021, but the consensus is that Fiji will not provide as much threat aerially in comparison to the likes of South Africa and Ireland.
Centre partnership
Smith’s presence in the team also alleviates the playmaking pressure on the centres, where Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant look set to combine.
Tuilagi struggled to make an impact in the 13 jersey against Samoa, and had issues in both attack and defence.
The Sale Sharks powerhouse has endured a number of injury troubles during his career and there are doubts as to whether he now has the pace to play at outside centre.
Marchant, meanwhile, is an excellent athlete, as well as a smart decision-maker, and has become a regular in the XV recently.
He started against both Argentina and Japan but missed out completely for the encounter with the Samoans.