England fly-half Marcus Smith called up by British & Irish Lions as cover for Finn Russell
Marcus Smith has swapped a ticket for Wembley for a boarding pass to South Africa after the fly-half was handed a shock call-up to the British & Irish Lions squad
The 22-year-old was due to go to watch the Euro 2020 final on Sunday, but is instead on his way to Johannesburg. After making his England debut only last week against the United States, Lions head coach Warren Gatland selected him to cover Finn Russell, who has an Achilles injury.
“It was always my dream to represent the Lions,” said Smith. But for all Smith’s joy, what awaits him in South Africa is a tour stalked by uncertainty. In the opposing camp, it is understood that the Springboks are struggling to contain their Covid-19 outbreak with reports that they now have 26 positive tests, including 14 players.
Smith got the nod over far more experienced options in Johnny Sexton, the Ireland fly half, and George Ford. There is no doubt that he is a form option having guided Harlequins to the Gallagher Premiership title, delivering an outstanding individual performance in the 40-38 final victory against Exeter Chiefs.
With his instinct to attack the gainline and to try the unexpected, he is the closest replacement in style to Russell, who pulled out of Saturday’s match against the Cell C Sharks with an ongoing Achilles complaint which will rule him out of at least the next three matches. Maro Itoje also dropped out of the starting XV with a gastric bug.
Smith will arrive in Johannesburg on Sunday after kicking nine conversions out of nine in England’s routine victory against Canada at Twickenham where he found out about his selection when informed by RFU staff in the tunnel.
“We’re obviously disappointed for Finn, who I think has been outstanding since he came into camp in Jersey, but we are optimistic he’ll still play an important role in the Tour,” Gatland said. “We have two experienced fly-halves in Owen Farrell and Dan Biggar, so it’s a great opportunity for the continued development of Marcus.
“I’ve been following him closely for the past 12 months and I’ve been impressed with how well he’s matured as a player. Finn and Marcus are similar in that they like to play with a bit of freedom, so, for me, it’s as close to a like-for-like cover as we can get. We look forward to welcoming him to the group.”
It is another bold selection call by Gatland. Neither Sexton, who played in all the Lions’ Test matches in 2013 and 2017, nor Ford are involved in their countries’ summer international matches but are understood to be fit and available for selection.
“For me, it’s a dream come true, obviously. It was always my dream to represent the Lions,” Smith said. “I didn’t expect for it to come this soon but I’m going to go out there with some of the best players in the world and try to be myself, which will bring out the best in me, ultimately. Then we’ll see what happens.
“Eddie said to go out there, take it all in and come back a better player. I’m massively overwhelmed [with the last three weeks]. I’ll have to sit by myself for 10 minutes or so and take it all in. It’s been a whirlwind. I’m massively delighted.
“When I got called down the tunnel I thought I was in trouble. I was shaking and I had to ask Charlotte [Gibbons, the team manager] if she was shaking. I still don’t really know what to say.”
Smith will join a tour that has already been turned upside down by multiple Covid-19 tests in four separate teams, including the Lions. On Saturday they thrashed the Cell C Sharks 71-31 for the second time in four days after the scheduled fixture against the Bulls was postponed. The Springboks, meanwhile, had to cancel their match against Georgia on Friday after uncovering 12 positive cases within their camp last week.
“One of the things we've done right from the start of the tour is say that there will be some chaos.” Gatland said. “It’s then about adapting to that and then changing. That’s been the mantra. I thought we handled it during the week. I see it as a positive.
“If anything else happens on the tour that is as chaotic as this week has been, that would probably surprise me.”
Gatland may be upbeat on the matter but the upheaval is set to continue into next week. It is understood that the Springboks may not be allowed to follow the Lions to Cape Town from Johannesburg on Sunday, with so many players and staff in isolation. The Lions are due to play South Africa A on Wednesday, but that seems unlikely to go ahead. Either the match will be switched with the Stormers game on July 17, or it may be pushed back to Thursday or Friday. That would result in the match against the Stormers on July 17 being scrapped, with the Lions playing their final two warm-up matches against South Africa A. The Test series against the Springboks begins on July 24.
