Video footage has emerged of the moment England and Harlequins fly half Marcus Smith found out he had been called up to the British & Irish Lions squad.
The 22-year-old was officially announced as injury cover for Finn Russell in South Africa and having been substituted off during a Test match against Canada on Saturday, Smith was told the news in the tunnel at Twickenham.
After playing just his second Test match for England, Smith told Channel 4 he was “shaking” after being told the news. The Quins star was once again on fine form, kicking all nine conversions to help England to a 70-14 win.
The moment Marcus Smith found out he was a British & Irish Lion. 🦁
Incredible. What a moment for him.#LionsRugby pic.twitter.com/E7OPfWLvtI
— RugbyLAD (@RugbyLAD7) July 10, 2021
“It’s a slight tear in Finn Russell’s Achilles, they injected it today, and hopefully we’re going to manage it and see if we can get him through the next couple of weeks, and as a result we have called up Marcus Smith to come out on Sunday,” Gatland told Sky Sports on Saturday.
“He’s been absolutely outstanding, I’m a big fan of his. I watched him play last year and thought he was really, really promising.
“He’s been having a great year for Harlequins and is obviously playing for England now.”
“The reason we’ve gone with Marcus is just how well he’s been playing,” Gatland added.
“He’s been playing regularly in recent weeks, obviously winning the Premiership with Harlequins, and playing with England now.
“He’s kind of a similar player to Finn Russell as well, so it’s sort of a like-for-like replacement in terms of how he plays the game.”
Sign In