Close bond between Smith and Murley can benefit England’s Six Nations tilt | Gerard Meagher Harlequins duo are close friends and can boost the cohesion of Steve Borthwick’s side against Ireland on Saturday.
The buildup to a fixture between England and Ireland has not truly begun until someone mentions the C-word, so step forward Steve Borthwick to name his side for England’s daunting Six Nations opener in Dublin two days early and officially set the hare running.
Murley is best friends with his Harlequins teammate Smith, the two are thick as thieves off the pitch, have a telepathic understanding on it and given Smith’s instinctive idiosyncrasies can sometimes be hard for his teammates to follow, it is a significant selection.
It is getting a little tired now but the narrative goes that Ireland can boast a level of “cohesion” that is the envy of the world while England are a mishmash, thrown together from nine different clubs and trying desperately to get on the same page.
It goes some way to explaining why Borthwick has resisted any temptation to carry out surgery on his side, sticking with Marcus Smith at fly-half as one of 10 players who started the last November Test against Japan.
