12 October 2023 , 21:00
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Marcus Smith has been backed by one of rugby’s great try scorers to transform England’s attack playing at fullback.
The Harlequins fly-half is set to be handed the No.15 shirt for Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final against Fiji. It would be his second ever start at fullback but so impressed was Chris Ashton with his two-try opener against Chile that the former England star has endorsed Steve Borthwick’s selection.
Ashton, joint top try-scorer in the 2011 World Cup, said: "I've seen enough of him at 15 to start a World Cup quarter-final against Fiji. "If we're going to go with Owen [Farrell] at 10 because that's the way Steve and Wiggy [England attack coach Richard Wigglesworth] feel the game is controlled best, that leaves us pretty thin with attacking varieties.
"What we have seen is every time Marcus has been on the pitch at 15, he has transformed our attack,” Ashton told the BBC. “Right now there is no next week, we've got to give it a go."
Borthwick confirms his side on Friday with Elliot Daly claiming England have rediscovered the energy they used to light up the World Cup the last time they contested a quarter-final.
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They have so far looked nothing like the side which powered to the final in Japan in 2019, trouncing Australia 40-16 in the last-eight stage of the tournament.
Four tries and 20 points from the boot of Owen Farrell gave then coach Eddie Jones bragging rights over the country of his birth and the team he now coaches.
England have had a week of soul searching since coming so close to defeat against Samoa in Lille and Daly says they have used it to rediscover their mojo.
“The lesson from 2019 is how clear we were in terms of what we wanted to get after and how we wanted to play,” he said. “I think we’ve got that similar energy bubbling this week.
“We went into that quarter final very clear in our plan and hopefully what the outcome was going to be. We have a similar vibe this week.”