A tale of two Smiths: Fin solves England’s biggest problem to leave Marcus stuck in limbo England recorded a dramatic 26-25 win over France to finally end a year of hurt in close games and they found their fly half of the present and future in the process.
It is, of course, far too early to call 22-year-old Fin Smith a great but the traits the fly half demonstrated on his first international start – as England finally ended their year of woe in close matches by dramatically defeating France 26-25 in a stone-cold thriller – signify the brightest of futures.
Sadly, those misses typified a scratchy display from Smith Sr, which also saw him ill-advisedly run into contact on halfway rather than kicking ahead, immediately get stripped of the ball by Bielle-Biarrey and only avoid France scoring in the aftermath because they inexplicably dropped the ball with the line at their mercy as part of a catalogue of handling errors.
His namesake Marcus – who had a torrid day after being moved to full back – is renowned for his flamboyance and creativity, yet it was younger Smith who was ultimately able to begin to unlock the full potential of this England backline.
Having Alex Mitchell at scrum half, with Freeman and Ollie Sleightholme on the wings – all teammates of Fin Smith at Northampton – certainly didn’t hurt the young playmaker, as the understanding between them forged by the club connection beautifully translated to the international stage.
