England's Smith making irresistible case for inclusion

NICE, France : Coach Steve Borthwick is not generally a man to make radical decisions but England fans excited by what they saw against Chile on Saturday will probably be praying that he sticks with the experiment of playing Marcus Smith at fullback.

Despite Henry Arundell equalling his country’s record with five tries in the 71-0 thrashing, Smith was probably the stand-out player on his first professional start in the position.

When George Ford came on early in the second half, shifting Owen Farrell to inside centre, the “three 10s on the pitch” concept the coaches had discussed became a reality and England ran riot, albeit against a desperately tiring defence of the tournament’s lowest-ranked team.

The clamour for Smith’s inclusion comes on the back of England’s stilted displays in their opening wins over Argentina and Japan, though ironically he probably kicked from hand more on Saturday than when operating at flyhalf.

It is hard on Freddie Steward, who began his international career with a string of man of the match performances and was voted England's player of the season for the last two years.

His incredible ability under the high ball and defensive security are traits Borthwick admires. But he has shown little attacking threat and if England are going to have any chance in the latter stages of the tournament, “solid” is not going to be enough.

England attack coach Richard Wigglesworth said Smith had been giving the coaches "food for thought" in the buildup to the World Cup and he was at his creative best in Lille.

"I know it was a bigger talking point than we felt it was, we just see a great rugby player," Wigglesworth said on Sunday. "We were really confident he would produce that sort of performance.

"He's a top, top