Marcus Smith has been left out of England’s squad preparing to face France and told to play for his club instead.
The Harlequins fly-half, given just 14 seconds off the bench in the win over Wales, loses his place to No.10 rival George Ford.
Ford, fit after eight months on the sidelines, started England’s last three home wins over France playing alongside Owen Farrell.
Since the 2015 World Cup the pair have combined to deliver four victories from six against the French.
"George is looking tremendously sharp and in great condition,” enthused coach Steve Borthwick. “He is clearly a very experienced player.
“When Owen has played well at 12 there’s the balance of having a second distributor and a second kicker at 12.
“They can’t simply put pressure on your 10 so he gives an outlet for that. His understanding and competitiveness also makes him a great defender at 12. It allows us another string to our bow.”
Borthwick was at pains to make clear that this is a squad aimed specifically at the Brighton camp and he will select again for England’s French test.
Nonetheless, fans of Smith will be further discouraged after he was dropped to the bench against Scotland and given next to no time in Cardiff.
Borthwick said: “I’ve made the decision for Marcus to get game time, which I think is the best thing for him and also gives me an opportunity to work with George, which I haven’t had the opportunity to do for nearly a year.
“It was my decision which I then discussed with Marcus. I think the right thing is for him to go and get match sharpness. He will be back in the squad on Sunday. He understands that.”
If his intention is to play Smith against France then allowing him to leave camp to play for another team mid-tournament comes with obvious jeopardy.
“There is a risk there but the benefit of getting Marcus match sharpness I think out-weighs that,” Borthwick concluded.
"Most teams who have used the four-year cycle have a very good understanding of how their players play together, who plays with who really well. We are not in that situation, we are trying to get the foundations of the game and accelerate that development as much as we can."
Reverting to the twin-playmaker template at 10 and 12 with only two competitive games left before the World Cup would be another risk given the success Ollie Lawrence has made of inside-centre.
England have won both Tests with him at 12 and he scored the winning try against Wales.
Nonetheless, Farrell’s goalkicking is a concern having missed eight of 15 attempts in this tournament. Had England been playing France rather than Wales last Saturday, his four misses could have been decisive.
He remains invaluable - 17 tackles in Cardiff was bettered only by Maro Itoje - yet Borthwick may well decide he needs two specialist kickers on the field from the start for Le Crunch.
Fittingly, Smith will audition for the role on the Twickenham stage this Saturday when Quins play Exeter in their rescheduled Big Game.
