"It'll be a wasted opportunity" – Kevin Sinfield explains why England should continue with Marcus Smith at fullback

02/27/2025 01:00 PM

Kevin Sinfield is adamant for England to keep playing Marcus Smith at fullback, as the Harlequin is steadily making the 15 shirt his own. Usually a fly half in the famous quarters of his London club, Smith was first challenged to switch positions for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, and has returned to fullback for the 2025 Guinness Men’s Six Nations.

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George Furbank’s broken arm instigated this latest positional change, as England’s usual starting fullback was written out of the Six Nations campaign. Despite leading England at fly half throughout the 2024 Autumn Series, Smith has since swapped back to the 15 shirt, with his namesake Fin Smith holding down the 10 mantle. Kevin Sinfield believes that Marcus Smith has more to give at fullback, as England have not yet seen the best of him.

Sinfield believes that despite a mixed bag of results with Smith in the back-field, it would be a ‘wasted opportunity’ to not persevere in playing the 26-year-old at fullback for England.

"He has not had a great deal of time there, not had a massive amount of minutes. We have all seen the reports how he loves playing 10, he is an outstanding 10 but I think he is a very, very good 15 as well.

“Clearly there are some elements that we all need to be better at, and I think Marcus would agree. Some of his 10 play and his 15 (play) needs to improve, so I think if we all looked at the game from the weekend (England v Scotland) there will be some bits that are not as good as we could be, but I think if we throw it in the bin now it'll be a wasted opportunity.”

A re-occurring theme whenever any of the England players or coaches wax lyrical about Smith, is that they draw attention to the Harlequin’s dynamism and x-factor with the ball in hand. Sinfield was no different, and called upon Smith’s strengths in open space, as a real driver towards why he should maintain his position in England’s back three.

"You look at how the game is played now and how valuable a second ball player can be. Marcus' big strengths are when he is in space. We know he can do it when it is tight and there are lots of bodies around, he is able to move laterally very, very quickly so he puts defenders under a lot of stress.

“So, clearly it makes sense to try and get him a little bit wider where the gaps tend to be a little bit bigger. It was never going to be an easy transition because he doesn't play there for his club a lot although they (Harlequins) have used him a bit, they brought Jarrod Evans on (at fly half).

Sinfield expressed how he’d “like to think” that Smith could one day be a better fullback, than he is a fly half. With such a talented depth in the fly half and fullback ranks, England could well utilise the enigmatic maestro across both jerseys for the foreseeable future, should the Harlequin become “world class at both.”

“I'd like to think so. If we could get him into a position where he's world class at both, it gives us some options. Like I said, a second ball player is really important with the make up in the backline. He could end up being a third ball-player at some stage. 

“He's a big running threat, has got a good kicking game, and his relationship with Fin (Smith) and George (Ford) has enhanced this campaign, the work the three of them do, how hard they push each other… all three of them are world class, so we're very fortunate to have all three.”

Speaking of Marcus Smith, Fin Smith and George Ford, there is no envying the tall order that Steve Borthwick faces when picking his starting fly half. Having the luxury of being able to have all three in the England camp only elevates the performance of the trio, yet Borthwick can’t keep all three of his halfbacks happy at any given time.

Sinfield elaborated upon this, in how it is nigh on impossible to keep his squad ‘happy’ in the sense that no player will ever be satisfied with their place in the training squad.

“It's funny, because all three of them are that driven, that none of them are happy. The time I spend with them is very, very different because they are different characters, going through different stuff. Fin wants to improve his game. He's started the last two but he wants to be better and have more of an influence in there.

“I would probably play down Marcus's massive drive to play 10. I think he understands his role; what he's done for the last two weeks and how important he's been for us. George has been exemplary. You get better at it with age, although I think it stings more, the older you get. He's been awesome.

“So, I don't think any of them are happy but, right across the team, I don't think there's anyone that is happy. There are people who might be satisfied with one or two bits of their game, but there's certainly no complacency here and we understand we've gone through two really close games and come out the right side of them, but to keep moving forward in this campaign, we have to keep showing improvements. We get a chance to do that again, which is great.”

With so much of the positional spotlight upon Marcus Smith, it would be easy for two of his fellow back-three flyers to have their own versatility fly under the radar. England wing Tommy Freeman is steadily adding the outside centre string to his bow, with the Northampton Saints man ending recent England Tests in the midfield.

Freeman would shuffle across to the centre of the park, once either Ollie Lawrence or Henry Slade departs for the Swiss-army knife of the England team, Elliot Daly.

“He gets some time there. It sort of depends on the availability within sessions, but depending on the make-up of our bench, if we go 6-2 – and who number 23 is for us – has meant Tommy has been able to cover that 13 window for us. Some of that is on availability and some of that is on the make-up of the bench and other permutations we think we may need to consider.

“I think it is important to keep trying to develop Tommy as a centre as well. We've seen him play there for Northampton and do a good job, so to have that option is good for us.”

With Marcus Smith holding down the fullback jersey, Freddie Steward has also been encouraged to add a second position to his professional portfolio. The Leicester Tigers man has previous experience at inside centre as he played the position when coming through the age grades. Sinfield expressed how whilst there are no immediate plans for the Tigers man to take up a centre spot, Steward certainly has the credentials to be an option in England’s 12 channel.

“There's a possibility. Fred's certainly capable of playing 12 and he played there as a junior.” Sinfield explained, at the LNER Community Stadium in York. “There is a lot of competition among our backs and the vast majority of our back line can play in a number of positions which is great and is a strength for us.”

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