The stage was set and the greatest showman duly showed up. Harlequins like to give their supporters a great day out at their annual Big Game and, sure enough, Marcus Smith produced his full repertoire of tricks to leave England’s head coach, Steve Borthwick, in no doubt about his ability or relish for the big occasion.
Having been omitted from England’s training camp in Brighton this week, the onus was on Smith to prove a timely point and the fly-half did so spectacularly with a man of the match performance. The ball remains in Borthwick’s court ahead of his team’s Six Nations game against France at this same venue next weekend but Smith could not have done much more in terms of underlining his talent and state of readiness.
