Justin Marshall: ‘Enigma’ Marcus Smith ‘reminds me of Carlos Spencer’ as All Blacks can ‘exploit’ England’s lack of ‘balance’
England fly-half Marcus Smith and former All Blacks playmaker Carlos Spencer.
All Blacks great Justin Marshall has compared Marcus Smith to ‘King’ Carlos Spencer, but believes that both the fly-half and England could be hampered by losing his playmaking partner.
After starting both Tests in New Zealand, the Harlequins star will once again line up at pivot for the upcoming clash at Twickenham, but he will be without his trusty cohort from July, Alex Mitchell.
The Northampton Saints scrum-half will likely miss the whole of the November campaign due to an ongoing neck problem, with Bath’s Ben Spencer taking his place for Saturday’s encounter.
Spencer has been in fine form in the Premiership over recent years, but Mitchell has become a key cog in England’s machine since taking the number nine jersey for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Despite Smith’s brilliance, especially in attack, Marshall felt that having the 27-year-old alongside him almost provided a calming influence.
‘He doesn’t care’
“Marcus Smith is an enigma. The guy kind of reminds me a little bit of Carlos Spencer to a degree,” he said on The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast.
“He’s probably a little bit more contained than Carlos, but he’s got this real awareness of when he sees something in front of him, regardless of whether it’s within the structure or out of the structure, he doesn’t care, he’s going to play what’s in front of him.
“Equally at times, he just needs a foil for that. He’s yelling for the ball, he can maybe see a two-on-one, rather than a three or four-on-one and he’s yelling for it because he wants to take that option from inside his own half. It’s a gamble and there’s a risk to it.
“You’ve got Mitchell who goes, ‘you know what, no’, and he can execute a really good box-kick and the team, to a degree, maintains its structure.”
Mitchell is renowned for the tempo he brings and his work around the fringes, but he has improved his kicking game immeasurably over the years.
He has therefore become the complete scrum-half and Marshall believes that the All Blacks can take advantage of his absence.
“He’s a huge loss and I think the All Blacks will be relieved because the way that he and Smith were operating in tandem, you’ve got that X-factor, that ability to play what’s in front of you but then that real maturity and experience for a guy (Mitchell) that hasn’t played that many Test matches,” he said.
“He was able to balance that out and balance is the key word in that. It is a blow for England so I think the All Blacks will look to exploit that as much as they possibly can.”
Captain fantastic
Marshall also reserved praise for hooker Jamie George, who took on the England captaincy following Owen Farrell’s decision to step back from Test rugby.
“I just see this massive maturity in Jamie George – the responsibility of captaincy,” he added.
“The way that he led that side in New Zealand, the way that he played, he’s just so consistent as a player.
“I think in the global game, the amount of Test matches he’s got now under his career and the way that he plays, he’s just so accurate in everything that he does.
“He’s good at the back of the maul, his lineout throwing is very good, he gets around the park, he carries hard, he hits people. He’s probably one of the most underrated rugby players in the world, let alone in his position. He is a massive part of that forward pack.”
