Ollie Phillips: Marcus Smith can be the catalyst for a new England team
Marcus Smith is the name on everyone’s lips as Eddie Jones prepares to name his England squad for the Autumn Nations Series on Monday.
The Harlequins fly-half was on fire on his first Premiership appearance of the season last Friday, coming off the bench to help Quins surge from 21-0 down to beat Bristol 52-24.
I think Smith is ready to start for England next month, when they host Tonga, Australia and South Africa, but it isn’t quite as simple as that.
Everything at Quins is set up for him to thrive, from the environment and his team-mates to the characteristics of the Premiership.
Smith lives nearby, has a perfect foil in Danny Care at scrum-half and Andre Esterhuizen outside him providing the muscle.
And he can try stuff, because it is nowhere near Test level and, if he makes a mistake, he probably won’t get dropped and his team can’t be relegated.
If Jones wants him to play like that for England then he has to put players around him that are of a similar profile to his Quins team-mates, rather than the defensively-minded ones he has tended to favour.
He could, for instance, use Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade in the midfield and field Alex Dombrandt, Smith’s Quins colleague, at No8.
On the other hand, picking Smith at No10 but alongside Ben Youngs at No9 and Owen Farrell at No12 is probably just going to hinder his impact.
So does Jones drop Farrell altogether? And what about George Ford, who was left out of the training squad last month but is flying for Leicester?
These are the tough decisions that Jones has to wrestle with as he plots out his roadmap to the next World Cup in two years’ time.
Smith isn’t the only new face who deserves a chance. Team-mate Louis Lynagh and Newcastle wing Adam Radwan are also part of the new guard.
What he can’t do is throw them into the team six months before the World Cup. If he sees them as part of his plans he needs to blood them now.
The problem is that a few vultures are already circling for Jones. A poor autumn and he’ll be under huge pressure going into the Six Nations.
My hope is that Jones picks Smith, Dombrandt and Sam Simmonds in a statement that England will move to a more attacking style.
The only way to break down well-drilled defences is with creativity and chaos. If it is structure versus structure it becomes an arm-wrestle.
It doesn’t suit the natural game of Smith and a lot of England’s next generation to be cautious, so Jones should seize this chance to be bolder.
Smith’s Quins head to Sale in this weekend’s Premiership action
Quins are in action again tonight at Sale, where I think they’ll face a tough challenge from a team revved up to take them down a peg.
Bristol will be hurting from last week and it won’t get any easier when they visit Newcastle tomorrow. Wasps can build on their momentum against Exeter, while I fancy Leicester and Saracens to win at Worcester and Bath.
London Irish really need to get going and a home match with Gloucester on Sunday is a great chance.
Former England Sevens captain Ollie Phillips is the founder of Optimist Performance, experts in leadership development and behavioural change. Follow Ollie on Twitter and on LinkedIn.