Matt Dawson column: ‘Fin Smith is England’s number one fly-half’
Fin Smith put in arguably the best defensive display we have seen from an England fly-half in several years.
It was impressive how he stood out by consistently tackling the physical Fijian team.
The game management was also tremendous; He showed an excellent balance of finesse and control and made some strong decisions when things did not go to plan in the first half.
His ability to strategically calm the team and make big decisions is something he has really nailed.
In my opinion, Fin Smith is England’s number one scrum-half and should start against New Zealand next week.
I think head coach Steve Borthwick sees it that way too because the Finn has proven he can perform in big Test matches.
George Ford was sidelined against Australia last Saturday for leadership reasons and part of that decision was to ensure continuity and reward his form on the tour of Argentina.
However, England’s performance against Fiji was a significant step up from their performance against Australia.
The Wallabies lost in Italy on Saturday so we shouldn’t get too caught up in this win, it should have been by a bigger margin given how slow Australia were.
Fiji, on the other hand, was much more threatening and presented a much tougher challenge.
Fin Smith is still only 23 years old; Looking two years from now, I think Fin will be in a very strong place as a player, with Ford challenging him but also offering support.
Marcus Smith also needs to be considered as an option at the right time and against the right opposition.
He is developing as a player and starting to find his feet, but he also needs the freedom to show his unique qualities.
New Zealand introduced Damian McKenzie, who scored a decisive goal to beat Scotland, showing the importance of having players who can make a real impact off the bench.
That kind of presence could be the difference between winning the World Cup and not winning it.
McKenzie watches the game from the bench and thinks about what difference he can make when he enters the game. His decision-making and error rate have improved significantly since his early career.
If we can get Marcus to be that effective of a player, having him in the backfield could be valuable.
However, I don’t think Marcus is a good fit at full-back at the moment, so it’s still a position up for grabs.
The All Blacks will be kicking to challenge England’s backfield, so it must be watertight.
It is a position that should become a real force, both defensively and in terms of counter-attacking threat.
I don’t think Marcus is a top-level full-back at the moment. I have a hard time seeing the benefit of playing him there.
I want the ball in his hands as much as possible, but I believe he should be at the forefront, especially in the last 20 minutes.
