Harlequins playmaker Marcus Smith is due to make his England Test debut against the USA on Sunday following his stellar club form.
The 22-year-old played a key role in Quins’ dramatic Premiership triumph last weekend and fans have been calling for England head coach Eddie Jones to select Smith in the international side for many months.
Smith has previously been invited to England training camps but never played a Test match at international level, much to the surprise of various pundits and former players.
Marcus Smith is a magician
— Sonja McLaughlan (@Sonjamclaughlan) June 26, 2021
Having made his Quins debut in 2017 aged 18, Smith has developed into a mature leader for the club and his recent performances for the London-based club have been simply sensational.
“We’ve got to understand he’s only a very young 10 so he’s still got a long way to go in his game,” said Jones.
“Being a Test 10 is always about making good decisions for the team… at 22 he is going to make some bad decisions, as we’ve seen with most Test 10s.
“At some time playing for England, the whole country is looking at you and every part of your game is examined… we aren’t sure how Marcus will cope with that.
“His development as a player will be how quickly his game adapts from club rugby to Test rugby.”
Marcus Smith passes beyond the defender like few others.
— Paul Williams (@thepaulwilliams) June 26, 2021
Smith will line up alongside uncapped scrum half Harry Randall and in total Jones has named eight debutants in his starting XV to face the Eagles at Twickenham.
Despite only being 22, Smith has already represented his club more than 100 times and scored more than 1000 points in the process.
The following eight-minute montage demonstrates the amazing handling skills of the young man as well as his electric footwork, dogged defence and impeccable kicking ability which has earned him his England call up.
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