Borthwick backs 'top-class' Marcus Smith to ignite England’s attack

England head coach Steve Borthwick has made significant changes ahead of Saturday’s autumn Test against Fiji at Allianz Stadium, with Marcus Smith starting at full-back and Fin Smith at fly-half.

In all, Borthwick has made seven alterations from last weekend's 25-7 victory over Australia, bringing in Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Alex Coles, Ollie Lawrence, and Chandler Cunningham-South.

But the spotlight will perhaps be on Marcus Smith at full-back, with the Harlequins No.10 asked to fill the 15 jersey for his country once again.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, Borthwick admitted that handling the Smith conundrum with England has been a challenge, but has encouraged the returning playmaker to light the fuse on their attack.

Smith wasn't involved at all last weekend, but with Freddie Steward out with a hand injury, he comes back into the side at full-back.

"[Marcus] is a brilliant player and it’s very competitive with the three fly-halves we’ve got,” said Borthwick. “Marcus has the versatility to play 15 as well and I think he’s a top-class 15. He’s always working, you see him out there at the end of training, he’s always working to add to his game. I think he’s hungry and he’s an exciting player. That’s what I suppose I want to see on Saturday.

“Marcus is someone I’ve met a couple of times out of camp in the last period. I think I want all the players to feel supported on the journey. It’s rare that anybody’s journey just goes in one direction and stays that way. Players always have bumps and their own corners to turn, that’s always part of the nature of it and I think the coaching team is there supporting our players.

“Whereas a player is always selected for their club, sometimes that’s not quite the case here and the role changes. That produces challenges for us and in the environment because they all want to play, but I’d much rather it that way than the other way.

“Fin Smith and Marcus were champing a bit for the opportunity so I think you see a team that will want to move the ball. I think you see again we’ve got pace and power on the edges.

"I’m really hopeful there that we’ll see Marcus in space in unstructured opportunities, which I think everybody in the stadium is going to be excited when that ball comes into Marcus’s hand in a bit of space. Last week, we had some of those opportunities, the players had a great attitude in some difficult conditions to go and take those opportunities in unstructured situations. Unfortunately, we didn’t convert them."

Elsewhere in the starting XV, Ellis Genge will captain the side with Maro Itoje, who has been struggling with a leg injury, named on the bench for the first time since 2017.

"Maro had a little knock, again nothing to any great extent, but it meant he couldn’t train the first half of the week,” said Borthwick.

“I felt the right thing to do was to prioritise the combination that were training for the full week. That’s why I made the decision to put Maro on the bench. Player welfare is always paramount in my thoughts. We always work towards that.”

England: 15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Chandler Cunningham-South, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Guy Pepper, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Alex Coles, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge (cc)

Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Maro Itoje (cc), 20 Tom Curry, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Ben Spencer, 23 Henry Arundell