Marcus Smith has been handed the chance to cement his place in England’s World Cup squad after he was named in the starting lineup for their first warm-up match against Wales on Saturday. Smith has not started for England since the Six Nations horror show against France but with Steve Borthwick opting to omit all Premiership finalists except for Max Malins from his starting XV, the 24-year-old returns to the No 10 jersey in Cardiff.
In Owen Farrell’s absence, Ellis Genge captains the side for the second time while Borthwick hands a debut to Tom Pearson at openside flanker. Pearson is rewarded for a fine season with London Irish and has impressed Borthwick in training. He is likely to be joined in winning a first cap by the Saracens hooker Theo Dan and the No 8, Tom Willis, both of whom have been named on the bench.
The coaching staff have been at pains to point out that the match is not a trial before Borthwick names his final World Cup squad of 33 on Monday but a strong showing from Pearson could prove pivotal in one of the most competitive area of selection.
Though there is the obvious caveat that Borthwick has left out almost all the Sale and Saracen players, history bodes well for those players selected to start. Just as was the case four years ago, the final World Cup squad will be finalised after one warm-up match against Wales and in 2019, 14 of the 15 players who started were selected in the final squad.
Smith is backed up by George Ford, who is among the replacements and though the indications have been that Borthwick is leaning towards selecting both fly-halves as well as Owen Farrell in his final squad, Saturday’s match offers the Harlequins No 10 the chance to demonstrate his worth. To that end, he is joined by clubmates Danny Care at scrum-half and Alex Dombrandt at No 8.
Other eye-catching selections include George Martin at lock – the Leicester Tiger winning a second cap alongside David Ribbans – while Genge is joined in the front-row by Jamie Blamire and Will Stuart. Lewis Ludlam completes the pack.
Outside Smith, Guy Porter and Joe Marchant combine in the centres while Freddie Steward is at full-back and there are places on the wing for Joe Cokanasiga and Malins. Cokanasiga is yet to feature under Borthwick but is another who has impressed in training. On the bench, Dan, Willis and Ford are joined by Bevan Rodd, Kyle Sinckler, Jonny Hill, Jack van Poortvliet and Henry Slade.
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The list of players omitted who are fully fit and did not play in the Premiership final is interesting given their wealth of experience and includes Joe Marler, Dan Cole, Ben Youngs, Jonny May, Anthony Watson and Courtney Lawes, as well as Henry Arundell.
“England versus Wales in Cardiff is always an exciting and keenly contested fixture,” said Borthwick. “I am sure this Saturday will be no different as a tremendous first Test match of the Summer Nations Series. We have been impressed with how the whole squad has applied itself both on and off the field over this training camp.
“We are now looking forward to returning to Test match rugby as we continue our preparations for the Rugby World Cup in France.” - Guardian
