Marcus Smith stood accused of a ‘safety-first mentality’ despite pulling the strings on one of England ’s great comebacks.
Sir Clive Woodward was livid with the young fly-half’s decision to kick the ball dead and “accept” a draw with the final play of Saturday's game. No matter that Smith orchestrated England’s great escape from 25-6 down with eight minutes left to play, Woodward felt it reflected a team weakness.
Never mind that Eddie Jones hailed his young pivot’s second half performance as “brilliant, the best 40 I’ve seen Marcus play in Test rugby”, the 2003 World Cup-winning coach stuck the boot in. “Smith’s option showed that England’s mentality is not in the same league as the other top teams,” Woodward wrote in his newspaper column. “If I’d been the England coach I’d have gone absolutely mad.”
