Steve Borthwick: England coach explains decision to swap Marcus for Fin Smith as kicker against France
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In the middle of England’s last-ditch victory against France, there was a key decision made which helped steer Steve Borthwick’s side to the 26-25 win. After missing three shots at goal, Marcus Smith’s kicking duties were handed over to Fin Smith, and the Northampton Saints man nailed the crucial match winning conversion for a significant Six Nations win at the Allianz Stadium.
Fin Smith shone upon his first Test start for England, with the 22-year-old preferred to lead the line at fly half ahead of Marcus Smith for ‘Le Crunch’. Whilst the decision to hand Fin the 10 shirt was the brain-child of Borthwick, the England head coach explained how he had no say in the decision to swap kickers in the latter stages of the match. That big call came between Marcus and Fin, with the fullback willfully handing over the kicking tee to his teammate.
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"The players make the decisions on the grass.” Borthwick explained. “Kicking for posts, kicking for corners, I never make those decisions. The players are the ones that can feel the game. I believe players make those decisions."
"We knew it was going to be a great tactical battle, and in that first 30 minutes, you'd say France had the edge in that tactical battle. We knew that was going to be tough. Through that, you just need to stay in the fight. We did that. I thought there were times there where they really linked well. You could see the aggressive nature where Marcus takes the short side or took the kick return, it looked very dangerous."
Whilst the decision to unleash both Smith’s in the starting XV perhaps did not please the likes of the excluded George Ford or Freddie Steward, the majority of England fans were happy to see the two namesake stars working in tandem. Fin Smith especially stood tall in his Player of the Match performance, and had the mental fortitude to step up for the match winning kick, having had a previous effort from the boot charged down.
"That was really telling. I've talked about Fin's character, making 30 tackles in a game (Northampton vs Exeter Chiefs), I think you saw another bit of Fin's character. To have that happen and stay so calm, composed and assured – that's the nature of him as a player. I was really pleased with that. There are going to be moments like that as a team develops, as a player develops, where it doesn't go the way you want. The response is what I'm looking for."
Whilst plenty of spotlight was shone upon the men with ‘Smith’ etched across their backs, there was also a bright spark from replacement wing Elliot Daly. The Saracen had an immediate impact upon his first involvement of the 2025 Six Nations, as he rocketed off the bench to score a pivotal try, that set up the dramatic finale for Fin Smith to convert.
"I thought he (Elliot Daly) added immensely. The way the players like Elliot and George Ford, to name just two, add in the training week is incredible. The players are willing to give so much, in George Ford's case, not even in the 23. He's given so much to the team.
“Elliot coming on, he's another player who sees space. He runs great running lines. What I am really pleased is that we gave that pass. There was a situation in the South Africa game (Autumn Nations Series) very similar to that where we didn't give that pass, we didn't quite have that same running line. That experience coming on, I thought Jamie George did really well coming off the bench. That experience really helped."
England are now working their way through the first of two fallow weeks, with no Six Nations matches scheduled for this incoming weekend. Borthwick is eager to get some previously injured players back and in the mix for the following Test week, with the likes of Manny Feyi-Waboso, Alex Dombrandt and Jack van Poortvleit all determined to make their mark against Scotland on February 22nd.
“Hopefully. (Manny Feyi-Waboso will be back). He's running well, rehabbing well."
"What we are going to do this week is return to the hotel now, players will have medical checks and if they want to go home, they can. The players have been in camp for a little while now. We want players to go and see their family. We'll spend a bit of time together and then disperse. The players will reassemble on Wednesday, and we'll be in camp Wednesday afternoon, Thursday and Friday morning, then break Friday lunchtime. I've got no medical information yet, so I'll go and get that.
"I'm waiting on a full medical report, but I think Alex Dombrandt is hopefully going to be fit to play for Harlequins this week. Jack van Poortvliet is back running. I'll get the full medical report of where's he at. Probably not quite yet. [George Furbank] is going well. He had a re-X-ray on his arm last week and we are waiting on the specialist to give his view on that. Hopefully, he might be available at the end of the tournament but we are still waiting for the specialist's report.”
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