Watson backs Marcus Smith’s ‘X factor’ to inspire England against France

England are looking to the “X factor” of Marcus Smith to dazzle France and lift the home crowd out of their seats in the latest edition of Le Crunch at Twickenham. The fly-half, promoted to the starting lineup at the expense of Owen Farrell, has been given a licence to play and his teammate Anthony Watson has confirmed the hosts will seek to express themselves right from the start.

With Farrell set to come off the bench in the second half, England are determined to crank up the pace of the contest and stop France from settling at a venue where they have not won in the Six Nations for 18 years. “We’ve seen what Marcus can do for Quins,” said Watson, who scored a try in the corresponding fixture two years ago when England won 23-20. “He’s got that X factor where he can spark a game into life.

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“That’s what he’ll be expected to bring, to do what he does week-in, week-out for his club. He has the ability to create something from nothing. That’s what people tune in to watch. He’s not a one-trick pony. It’s his range of ability to create stuff that makes him special. Fans want to see that type of thing and Marcus does that regularly.”

Watson also said the head coach, Steve Borthwick, wants his players to attack the game rather than have an overly cautious mindset. “Steve gives us a licence not to go out and feel that way. We’re committed to trying to win, we’re not playing a conservative game and trying to feel our way into it because that’s pointless. Steve talked in one of his first press conferences about wanting to inspire the nation. We definitely want to do that by playing a winning brand of