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Marcus Smith gets British & Irish Lions call-up
By Ian Cameron
England flyhalf Marcus Smith has been called up by the British & Irish Lions as injury cover for Finn Russell.
Russell was withdrawn from the replacements bench for today's replay with the C Cell Sharks, with the Lions confirming he is nursing an Achille's injury. Russell will not feature in the next three scheduled fixtures in the Castle Lager Lions Series in South Africa.
Smith is currently guiding England to victory over Canada in Twickenham and will fly to Cape Town on Sunday to join up with the Lions' touring party.
"We’re obviously disappointed for Finn, who I think has been outstanding since he came into camp in Jersey, but we are optimistic he’ll still play an important role in the Tour," said Gatland.
"We have two experienced fly halves in Owen Farrell and Dan Biggar, so it’s a great opportunity for the continued development of Marcus.
"I’ve been following him closely for the past 12 months and I’ve been impressed with how well he’s matured as a player.
"Finn and Marcus are similar in that they like to play with a bit of freedom, so, for me, it’s as close to a like-for-like cover as we can get. We look forward to welcoming him to the group in Cape Town."
A star at the age-grade level, Smith played for the England U18 and U20 sides before going on to feature in an uncapped England XV fixture against the Barbarians in 2019. The 22-year-old is only playing in his third game for England, and his second capped game, having made his Test debut last week against the US Eagles.
Smith became the second-youngest player in history to reach 500 points in the Gallagher Premiership at the age of 21, behind only Jonny Wilkinson. His form with Gallagher Premiership champions Harlequins led to calls for him to feature more for England, with Jones preferring Owen Farrell and George Ford as his first and second choice at standoff.
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Latest Comments
Well said except Argentina is most certainly not an “emerging nation” as far as rugby is concerned. If you’re making global-social-political claim, then I’m out of my depth entirely.
Argentina by multiple leagues of magnitude played better than Ireland today. Striking away a try in the 2nd minute did not necessarily lead to Arg demise, but as we all know, rugby is such an emotional game that then to be down 12-0 over nothing is gut-wrenching, especially as it was effectively a 19 point swing. Argentina’s fight back throughout the rest of the match was laudable.
A howl of great sadness for a beautiful sport that has criminal administrators, feckless refs, foppish TMOs, idiotic tv pundits, et al. attempting to collectively suicide the whole thing. No fault of the players or coaches necessarily. We have a situation where punitive cards that detract away from the essence and loftiness of the game itself are celebrated to a degree that is pathologically purblind. Rugby has created for itself a fetish for punishment rather than simply allowing the game to be played. Shameful.
Go to commentsAbsolutely right, can’t expect nearly an all kiwi officiating team to know the rules properly 😉
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