Marcus Smith recalled to England squad to face France in Six Nations

Marcus Smith has been recalled to the England squad preparing to face France this weekend after his dazzling display in Harlequins’ victory over Exeter. Smith was dropped for England’s fallow week training camp in Brighton last week but has returned to the squad for Saturday’s Six Nations fixture against Les Bleus.

Smith is included along with the England captain Owen Farrell as well as George Ford with Steve Borthwick selecting all three of his fly-half contenders in a 36-man squad. Farrell and Ford were part of the Brighton camp last week whereas Smith was released to Harlequins for game time, having come off the bench in England’s last two Six Nations matches against Italy and Wales.

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He sent the clearest possible reminder of his talents, earning the man of the match award in Harlequins’ 40-5 victory over Exeter at Twickenham in front of the England head coach Borthwick. He also was given a ringing endorsement to return to Twickenham on Saturday and produce a similar performance by the Harlequins coach Tabai Matson, who insisted Smith had done “exactly what Steve [Borthwick] wanted”.

After both scoring tries against Exeter, Cadan Murley and Joe Marchant have also been included but Ollie Hassell-Collins, who crossed the whitewash in London Irish’s win over Newcastle on Sunday after returning from a knee injury, has not been. Manu Tuilagi has been included but is still suspended and cannot appear against France while Jack Willis, who was due to be in action for Toulouse on Sunday night, has also been selected and is expected to join up with the squad on Monday.

Borthwick has a number of