Smith kept up his end of the bargain, and in some style, by putting Exeter to the sword in Saturday’s 40-5 Premiership thrashing, and now Borthwick has followed suit.
The new England boss has lived up to his word, by picking Smith to start at fly-half against Les Bleus at Twickenham on Saturday.
Borthwick took a calculated gamble by releasing Smith from England’s training camp last week, where featuring for Quins carried obvious injury risk. Smith was the sole member of England’s matchday 23 from the 20-10 Six Nations win over Wales to play for his club last weekend.
Harlequins thumped Exeter at Twickenham in front of a 55,000 crowd amid a stellar Smith performance, with the 24-year-old fly-half taking that feel-good factor straight back to the Test set-up.
Quins head coach Tabai Matson believes Borthwick’s honesty and candour are already becoming a crucial feature in his nascent England tenure.
“Steve is really transparent, and for the environment he wants to create, that level of honesty, the players love that,” Matson told Standard Sport.
Denne historien er fra March 09, 2023-utgaven av Evening Standard.
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Denne historien er fra March 09, 2023-utgaven av Evening Standard.
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