"I think he's ready" – Maro Itoje backs Fin Smith as fly half prepares for first England start
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England captain Maro Itoje is excited to see Fin Smith lead his back-line, with the fly half selected for his first Test match start this Saturday. Smith slots in at 10 for England’s second round clash in the 2025 Six Nations, as Steve Borthwick’s side host France at the Allianz Stadium.
Smith comes in for his seventh England cap, and shuffles the back-line with Marcus Smith moving across to fullback. This has the knock-on effect of Freddie Steward being pushed out of the side, with Ollie Sleightholme the preferred man to start on the left wing in Cadan Murley’s injury absence. Smith is set to orchestrate England’s attack from kick-off tomorrow afternoon, and his skipper Itoje thinks that the 22-year-old is ready for the task at hand.
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“Fin has obviously been in camp for quite a long time and has been involved with a number of different England matchday 23s. But he’s just a real calm, composed, quality player. He makes a lot of very good decisions, has an assertiveness about him for a relatively young man.
“He’s just a performer, I think. He obviously had a great season last season winning the Premiership, led his side as a 21-year-old fly-half to a Premiership, which is impressive. As he’s been in camp he’s been fantastic as well. Sometimes when I listen to him speak I’m surprised that he is only 21, 22. I’m excited to see him go this weekend.”
“He’s a cool, calm, collected sort of player. He makes a lot of good decisions. As a 10 it’s no surprise that you want to force them to make poor decisions and he is quite tricky to do that against because he often finds the right pass or makes the right decision in the kicking game. So yeah, I think he’s ready and I’m excited to see him go.”
Whilst the spotlight will certainly be on Fin Smith for his first England start, Itoje expressed how it will take more than the game management of the Northampton Saints man to take his side to victory against France. England have not beaten Les Bleus since the 2021 Six Nations, with Itoje expressing how nothing less than a whole squad effort will get the job done.
“You know what, no one can win the game on their own, no one can do that. It’s a team game and requires all 15 players on the pitch. Fin, from what I’ve seen playing with and against him, being with him at training, he’s a calm, collected character who makes good decisions.”
Whilst Itoje is an excellent leader in his own right, the lock’s leadership group has been bolstered through the return of Jamie George this week. The hooker missed out on the opening round of the Six Nations with a hamstring injury, as he played no part in the defeat in Dublin. George has been named as the replacement hooker for the clash with France, with Itoje excited to have his former England captain and career long teammate back in the mix.
“I've had the privilege to play with Jamie since I was about 18 years old (for Saracens and England). First and foremost, he's a quality player. Secondly, he's a quality leader, him being back in the squad, even the very first day, he was adding, he was being himself, he was helping the team move forward. Him being in the squad and in the 23, when he comes on, is going to be a great help for me and a great help for the team.
"We are going to need the bench to come on and add, I imagine most, if not all, of them will be on the pitch at the end of the game so if they come on and they add, just express themselves and really push the team forward that is going to be a crucial part of getting the result we want.
“When you look at rugby today, the matchday starting team has a role they play and need to put the team in a position to win the game but the bench are actually the guys who go out and win it. As starters we need to put us in a position where we can win and the bench need to come on and add and take us over the line.”
Sticking with Saracens, and Itoje is pleased to see a significant StoneX influence within the England back row. Ben Earl has shifted across from number eight to the flank for the second round of the Six Nations, with Tom Willis set to start at number eight for only the second time in his England career. Last week, Willis came off the bench as a direct swap for Earl, yet Borthwick has decided to utilise Mark McCall’s tried and tested Saracens tactic of having both Earl and Willis in the back row.
“I’m incredibly excited for Tom. He has had his head down and has worked incredibly hard for this opportunity. His road to playing for England has not been exactly smooth. He has had disappointment in the past and he has done the honourable thing of getting his head down and getting better.
“Tom is a very talented rugby player. He has a weird ability to wiggle his way through contact. You tackle him, you think it’s done, and then he starts moving his body over and over and suddenly he’s broken the tackle – when he has no right to do so. Ben and Tom have a bit of familiarity from their club relationship so I think it will bear fruit in this environment, too.”
With plenty of hard-hitting bruisers set to fly out of the England line, Itoje has no doubts that his men are out to make it a hard day at the office for France’s resident magician Antoine Dupont. Itoje was asked if the England players ever find themselves in awe of the man widely regarded as the best player in the world, with Itoje brushing off any hype around the halfback ahead of the incoming Six Nations clash.
“I don't think any of us will be looking at him in awe. Obviously, he's a good player, he's one of many good players in their team. We want to minimise his impact but we want to minimise the impact of the whole French team. So we won't be doing any of that.
“They pose different challenges to Ireland in the sense that the personnel is different and they play a slightly different type of game. The non-negotiables, first and foremost, is the physicality, you need to make sure you're physical, that you're winning that gain-line because they are a team that if you allow them to do that then they become difficult. We want to be aggressive as a team, getting off the line and hitting them and stopping them in their tracks. That's our mindset.”
Despite being a side who love the ‘jouer’ style of fast-flowing attacking rugby, France are also a side who nail the basics in the forward pack. No national team utilises the rolling maul more than Fabien Galthie’s side, with France trundling down the pitch on an average of 50% of their own line-outs. An areal technician in his own right, Itoje addressed the air-borne battle and the importance of sticking the breaks on the French maul.
“Absolutely. It's of huge importance. They maul a lot of lineouts, they use that as a source to get into a game and get joy so our role and my job within that is reduce the impact there as much as possible. They're a big, heavy team, they maul around some of their big boys but from my point of view we need to get stuck into that.”
"It is a big performance because we want to win. It is a big game, it is big occasion and we want to win. Everything I said remains true – and not only me, the team wants to move forward, the team wants to win and to be the team we want to be these are the games we have to win.”
Rounding off the discussion, Itoje echoed the thoughts of his teammate Henry Slade, in how the England team have not addressed the last home match against France. Dating back to the 2023 Six Nations, and France handed England their heaviest ever home defeat, as Galthie’s Galacticos racked up a 53-10 score-line at the home of English Rugby.
“I just think it bears no real importance on this game.” Itoje said. “I think we're in a completely different place, their team is different as well. We're much improved and I just can't see something like that happening.
"That game was two years ago and I think it holds little weight on what will happen this weekend, different teams, in terms of personnel and in terms of experiences. I think it will be a very different occasion. Obviously that wasn't great but we are looking to have a much improved performance on Saturday.”
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