Marcus Smith has been ruled out of England’s Six Nations opener against Italy on Saturday because of a calf injury with Steve Borthwick in the dark over whether the Harlequins fly‑half will miss the entire championship. Fin Smith is in line for a Test debut as a result and has been declared “ready to start” if Borthwick opts to hand the 21‑year‑old the No 10 jersey in Rome.
England’s problems are mounting before the start of their campaign with Alex Mitchell also handing the head coach a sizeable scare. The Northampton scrum-half has been unable to train all week because of an infected wound in his leg, further disrupting Borthwick’s preparations.
Marcus Smith sustained his calf injury at England’s training camp in Girona on Monday and was later seen on crutches at the team’s base. An initial scan has ruled him out of contention for the opening round of the Six Nations with Borthwick waiting on a second opinion to determine the length of his absence.
It is a bitter blow for the Harlequins fly‑half and for Borthwick who, after Owen Farrell’s decision to make himself unavailable, is believed to have been strongly considering starting Marcus Smith in Rome. Without him, it is a shootout between George Ford and Fin Smith to start on Saturday.
“[Marcus] won’t make this weekend sadly,” the assistant coach Kevin Sinfield said. “We got the scan report through but we are waiting to understand exactly what that means for us moving forward. He’s not fit for this weekend. We’re waiting for a second opinion on the scan. We will know more then.
“[Marcus is] a big loss but what that does is provide opportunities for others. Fin Smith’s been in camp before – his form has been outstanding for Northampton and he has trained great, too. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out where that might leave us. We have got Fin and George, who has got 91 caps I think, so he has got that experience and a young gun who has been in top, top form. We’re still in a very, very good position.”
Mitchell, meanwhile, is understood to have sustained his leg wound before joining the squad in Girona. England are hopeful the Northampton player will still be declared fit for the match against Italy but question marks linger after he was forced to sit out training sessions on Monday and Tuesday. Danny Care and Ben Spencer are the other scrum-halves at Borthwick’s disposal. The head coach has already lost Ollie Lawrence and Luke Cowan‑Dickie since naming his squad while George Martin, Manu Tuilagi, Anthony Watson, Jack van Poortvliet and Tom Curry are also out with injury.
At fly-half, Ford offers experience in what will be a much changed lineup to that which appeared at the World Cup but he has endured injury problems of his own of late and underwent two knee injections this month.
Fin Smith, meanwhile, is the form fly-half in England, having masterminded Northampton’s stunning Champions Cup victory at Munster before joining the squad. He is just 21 but is now in line for his debut, whether from the start or off the bench, and has earned rave reviews from the England coaches.
England have not handed a starting debut to a fly-half in the Five or Six Nations since 1987 but Sinfield said: “He is ready to start. Whether he will you will have to wait and see but he has been outstanding in training.
“Sometimes when you get young lads in camp the one thing they don’t bring is the voice, because of the calibre of players that are around them and the aura some players have about them. All good halves need to be able to communicate well and he is a very good communicator. His form has been outstanding for Northampton.
“Fin has a got a real maturity about him and game management which you would probably expect from someone a bit later in their career. He’s going to be a fantastic Test player.”
Sinfield was speaking publicly for the first time since it was announced he would be leaving England after the summer tour of Japan and New Zealand and that, with Felix Jones appointed as defence coach, he would be employed as skills and kicking coach until his departure. The 43-year-old said only that his decision had been taken for “personal reasons” and that he is unsure what the future would hold but hoped to remain in coaching.
“Do I still want to coach? Yes. What that looks like, I’m not sure at this stage,” he said. “I’m pretty excited about what’s to come this year with England, and then there is a lot of unknown for me and I don’t know what it looks like going forward. I’ll make the best of it.
“I’ve really enjoyed coaching and I don’t ever feel like I really left rugby league because of my role with Rugby League Cares, the charitable arm of the sport. What I do know is I want to continue to support and help people.
“When what happened with Rob [Burrow] happened it was a big shift in my life, and it felt right to use my experience as a player to help me support players and other people. I try to use that in the best way moving forward. I won’t rule out anything at this stage.
“It’s probably underestimated the amount of work you do. People see it as in camp or during a series and you’re in the thick of it and then you’re out of it and people think you’re not doing anything. Clearly rugby is still taking place and there is a lot of watching, studying, visiting clubs, visiting players, a lot of planning, but it’s been the best job I’ve ever had apart from playing.”
