Steve Borthwick has called on Marcus Smith to give France the runaround on Saturday, urging the fly-half to play to his attacking strengths at Twickenham and admitting he has trusted his gut instinct for the biggest selection call of his tenure so far.
As revealed by the Guardian, Owen Farrell has been left out of an England XV on merit for the first time since the 2015 World Cup with Smith preferred to inject tempo against les Bleus. Borthwick was adamant he was not “playing games” after releasing Smith from the England squad last week, only to recall him to the No 10 jersey on Thursday, and insisted he paid no attention to the outside noise swirling around the fly-half debate.
