Marcus Smith is set to complete an unprecedented Twickenham double by starting for England against France on Saturday.
No player has ever been released from the England squad to play club rugby seven days before starting a Six Nations match.
Yet so strong an audition did Smith give on Twickenham’s main stage playing for Harlequins that he is now expected to oust Owen Farrell and be named at fly-half - with the captaincy going to Ellis Genge.
It is a remarkable turn of events given Smith was dropped after England’s opening loss to Scotland and given a total of eight minutes off the bench in subsequent wins over Italy and Wales.
When head coach Steve Borthwick left him out of the squad altogether for last week’s training camp in his home city of Brighton, Smith looked to have dropped behind fit-again George Ford in the pecking order.
But it was all part of high-stakes gamble by Borthwick to light a fire in the young playmaker and put sufficient game time and match sharpness into him to handle Saturday’s assignment.
“On a weekly basis you’re making a decision on what is the right thing for the player this week, to be then ready to play for England,” explained the coach.
“Yes, there is a risk of injury there but the benefit of getting that match sharpness I think out-weighs that.”
Of Farrell’s expected demotion Kevin Sinfield, Borthwick’s assistant, said: “Faz will always be captain material whether he is captain or not. Whether Owen is in the side or not he’ll continue to be a great leader for us.”
