The second half is barely a minute old. If you can’t see the scoreboard you can tell by those swathes of empty seats. It is a hot day after all and refreshments are still being swilled. Italy are not bothered, however. They are on the attack, parked in England’s 22 and when the fly-half Paolo Garbisi finds the outside, a try, and with it the lead, looks a certainty.
The ball is flung wide to Italy’s left winger Matt Gallagher, who steps inside off his left foot. The step is read by Marcus Smith who throws every one of his 82kg behind the tackle. Gallagher is stopped, Italy’s momentum is lost and, soon after, England escape with a penalty awarded at the breakdown.
England’s lead is four at this stage and six minutes later it is 18. Another six and it is 25 thanks to three quickfire tries. Smith scored the first, Tom Curry the second and Ollie Sleightholme the third. England did not necessarily win this match because of Smith but the moment he was introduced ahead of schedule you suspected his say would be significant.
Without his tackle, without his try, scored after a trademark hitch-kick past Ange Capuozzo, England would not have been in such ascendancy with half an hour remaining. Curry and Jamie George would not have been in a position to fling one-handed offloads, England finally feeling liberated enough to showcase the kind of attacking intent they had promised but failed to deliver hitherto in their best performance with the ball in the championship to date.
Make no mistake about it, Smith is a square peg in a round hole at full-back. He made mistakes here, looked uncomfortable under the high ball, but his skill level is such that he is always likely to contribute. Whether Smith is happy in the role of super-sub is another matter.
This was the kind of day players such as him pray for when they open the curtains and peer out of the window. He was said to be gutted by his omission from the starting XV and it is understood he came mighty close to joining Racing 92 before the 2023 World Cup, when George Ford and Owen Farrell were ahead of him in the pecking order. Credit Steve Borthwick for convincing him to stay and it helps that Smith is currently tied into a long-term Harlequins deal, but there are always ways out of contracts. Ultimately what may prove significant is whether he is selected on this summer’s British & Irish Lions tour of Australia.
As was the case the last time Smith found himself named among the replacements – in Lyon for last year’s defeat by France – he did not have to wait long to get on to the field. In the eighth minute Ollie Lawrence crumpled in a heap and it was immediately clear he would be taking no further part. Cue the call for Smith, a few words of encouragement from the team manager, Richard Hill, a frisson of excitement when he flashed up on the big screen, and rapturous applause when he entered the field.
It was the same when the teams were being read out beforehand. For Smith is Twickenham’s darling. Cross the Chertsey Road to get to the stadium and his is the first face you see. So, enter Smith, far earlier than planned.
A word of consolation for Lawrence, with whom he is close friends, and straight into the full-back position with Elliot Daly moving in to outside-centre. Already Daly had impressed, creating England’s first try by seizing on a turnover and arcing his run down the left rather than putting boot to ball.
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It was a slow start for Smith, waiting an age for a first touch. He was out of position for Capuozzo’s try and Monty Ioane gave him a rough ride when chasing high balls. His first telling intervention was a fine pass for Sleightholme’s try but he spent plenty of the first half watching on as Fin Smith continued his assured start to life in the No 10 jersey. It helped to have Fraser Dingwall outside him at No 12, described in the week by Borthwick as a “glue player” and holding everything together in midfield nicely.
That said, Italy produced the two most memorable moments of attacking brilliance in the first half and it was not until that period after Marcus Smith’s tackle that England really hit their straps. They scored three tries in 10 minutes and reached the levels of attacking polish that their supporters crave and suddenly Marcus Smith was revelling in his unfamiliar role.
It did not last all that long – they did not score another point before the clock was red but while comfortable England victories over Italy tend not to linger long in the memory, that 10-minute period, in particular Sleightholme’s second score, just might. Borthwick would do well to remember it was Marcus Smith who started it all.