The Marcus Smith report card after big Harlequins win

Marcus Smith’s influential display in Harlequins’ 36-3 Gallagher Premiership victory over leaders Sale shows he is back in the groove, according to director of rugby Billy Millard.

Quins’ muscular pack provided the platform for Smith to overshadow George Ford, his rival for England’s fly-half jersey for the Six Nations following Owen Farrell’s decision to take a break from Test rugby.

By his own admission Smith has yet to hit top form since returning from the World Cup, but Millard was impressed by the depth to his game as Ford’s Sharks were swept aside at The Stoop.

“We just needed to give Marcus time (after the World Cup). I spent about 10 minutes with him this week one-on-one in a little room. We spoke a little bit about rugby,” Millard said.

“You just need to give him time because it’s a big adjustment. My analogy is that it’s like going on school camp, you know everyone but you get there on day three. It takes a while to get into the groove but he certainly did that here.

“Marcus is just getting better. He showed against Sale what he could do under massive heat, massive pressure.

“It was close to a Test-match style game-plan and he executed it beautifully. He showed he can control a really pragmatic game-plan.”

It was the resounding victory Quins needed after losing their last two games, including a thumping home defeat by London rivals Saracens a fortnight ago.

The key moment came just before half-time when the pack manfully defended their whitewash in the face of a fierce forward-led assault from Sale’s pack, preventing a try from being scored to sap their opponents’ will.

“For us to play the Quins stuff, it has to be on the back of a pragmatic kicking game and massive physicality. We knew Sale are the most physical team,” Millard said.

“There was a lot of man to man chats this week. That defensive effort just before half-time was everything. It gave us energy, it gave the crowd energy and sapped a bit from them. It was a big moment.

“We were really disappointed with that effort against Saracens so this was a really enjoyable night.”

Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson admitted his Premiership leaders were off the pace as they leaked five tries with a George Ford penalty their only response.

“When you’re off it in every single area, which we were bar the scrum, it generally comes down to the top two inches and if you’re not there you’re miles off on the scoreboard,” Sanderson said.

“We weren’t at the races but Harlequins certainly were. They were really good. They were efficient in that red zone area when they got possession and we weren’t.”

Sale captain Ben Curry was withdrawn from the game at half-time as a precaution after a blow left him nursing a headache.