Marcus Smith set to be benched for England’s Six Nations clash with Italy while Henry Slade is in danger of being left out of the squad completely
Marcus Smith and Henry Slade are set to be the high-profile victims of an England selection overhaul on Wednesday as Steve Borthwick prepares to revamp his faltering back line.
The head coach is due to bring forward his team announcement – which was originally planned for Friday – and reveal some seismic changes behind the scrum.
Mail Sport understands that Marcus Smith is to be demoted to a bench role against Italy at Twickenham on Sunday, while Slade is in danger of being omitted from the match-day 23 altogether.
Sources have indicated that the veteran Exeter centre will be replaced in midfield by Fraser Dingwall, to form an all-Northampton, 9-10-12 alliance with fellow Saints Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith.
Slade and Ollie Lawrence had become an established midfield pairing in the last year, but now Borthwick is ready to take a risk on a new combination, in the hope of igniting England’s stilted attack.
Marcus Smith is likely to drop to the bench for England’s Six Nations home game against Italy
Henry Slade is in danger of being completely left out of the England squad for Sunday’s game
England head coach Steve Borthwick is preparing to revamp his side’s faltering back line
With Marcus Smith out of the XV, his place at full-back is due to be taken by Elliot Daly of Saracens, who has made a telling impact off the bench in the narrow wins over France and Scotland – scoring the decisive, last-gasp try as the hosts beat the French last month.
However, this will come as a devastating setback for Harlequins playmaker Smith, who became entrenched as the starting 10 in the national team last year.
The 26-year-old lined up at fly-half in eight successive Tests after seizing his chance when George Ford missed the summer tour to Japan and New Zealand last year due to injury.
But when he was relocated to full-back to pave the way for Fin Smith to be promoted, it suggested that the writing was on the wall for magic Marcus and now he is reduced to a back-up role, with major implications for his prospects of earning a place on the Lions tour of Australia.
