Smith proved himself as England get Six Nations campaign back on track
It wasn’t brilliant and it wasn’t woeful, but the result stuck to type: another England win against Italy in the Six Nations and a yet another loss – their 99th in the competition – for the Azzurri.
While England’s 33-0 victory was expected, however, there were moments of magic in Rome that signalled a brighter future for Eddie Jones’s side.
The resurgence of Jamie George, a man-of-the-match performance from Marcus Smith and a bench they felt like they could trust, England sparkled in Italy but they’ll know a similar performance against the likes of Wales, Ireland and France might not be enough.
One thing is for certain: fly-half Smith stepped up to the challenge of running the show. The Harlequins No10 played with a sense of mystery, forcing the opposition defence’s hand.
In Edinburgh last week, Smith featured outside of the England stalwart Ben Youngs – who came on in the latter minutes in Rome to equal Jason Leonard’s 114-cap record for his country – while this week Smith found himself outside of the electric Harry Randall.
In performing well across the two weekends, Smith has proven his worth and ability beside any style of No9 – a crucial question posed of him ahead of this championship.
It was a match where the score wasn’t too unexpected, though this was the first time England had beaten Italy to nil in the Six Nations, and it looked as though Jones was experimenting at times.
England glimpses
While forced into an early substitution of Elliot Daly for Jack Nowell, due to a failed head injury assessment for the Exeter Chiefs back, we saw glimpses of a 10-12 axis of Smith and George Ford, with Henry Slade shifted to outside centre.
The game was wrapped up yet there were sparks of life. A flurry of quick interchange passing and running down the right wing opened Italy up in the closing stages, and though Slade couldn’t finish off the move in the far corner, we were offered an insight into a potential option at centre, where England have struggled for depth for years.
Elsewhere we saw moments of Sam Simmonds and Alex Dombrandt in the same back row. The explosive duo were given a shot together – again in the closing moments – and it seemed to bring a dynamism to England’s carrying.
That said, among the new styles and combinations it was some of England’s traditional performers who ground out the win in reality.
Tom Curry was a nuisance at the breakdown and made up for the few mistakes he made with hard carries and big shots, Jamie George and Ellis Genge were an exciting pairing in the front row – a lovely pass from Genge to George on the wing key to one of the hooker’s two tries – and a strong performance from Joe Marchant at his traditional centre spot in the opening 70 minutes.
…built in a day…
And for their opposition? Well, Rome may not have been built in a day, but this rugby team has claimed to be building for well over two decades now.
The Azzurri have been without any realistic chance of winning in the last few years and have scuppered many of the limited opportunities they’ve been presented with.
Ignacio Brex and Marco Zanon looked somewhat solid in their centre partnership, however, while the forward pack had some forward momentum in the opening half.
The question with Italy comes with how long they’re given. Their Under-20 side beat England on Friday night – in part down to former head coach Conor O’Shea, who’s now in the England set up, and the work he did with the pathway structure. So it must be coming, right?
Rome has become an expected five-pointer for England and yesterday’s match didn’t change that. But in elements of the victory England seemed to have stumbled across partnerships they could utilise as the championship goes on.