England rugby star Smith dubbed ‘entitled private school kid’ by angry team-mate
Earl and England look ahead to Rugby World Cup semi-final
England star Joe Marler has admitted being annoyed at Marcus Smith when the Rugby World Cup star first joined up with his club squad as a youngster, after “gobbing off” at the prop before showcasing his incredible talents on the pitch. Smith was shifted to full-back by Steve Borthwick for the quarter-final win over Fiji, an unconventional role for the 24-year-old, but he performed admirably to help England into the semis.
Smith broke into the Harlequins team as an impressionable teenager but initially left some of the senior players, such as Marler, dismayed after receiving a telling-off from the youngster despite being a seasoned international player at the time. Now the pair are team-mates again for England as they look to defeat South Africa and reach the final in France, but the relationship was not always so positive.
“Early on I would turn around and say, ‘I’m going to have to say something to this guy, he’s gobbing off at me’,” said Marler when recalling Smith’s first few training sessions. “I’ve been here 10 years and he’s gobbing off at me, ‘you’ve got to get here, you’ve got to get there’, driving standards.
“I’m a little bit like, ‘Who are you?’ Then you realise that he knows what he’s talking about and the fact he had that confidence as a 17, 18-year-old, that desire to be the best and be part of the team.
MUST READ England star Ellis Genge singles out two ‘villains’ ahead of Springboks showdown[ANALYSIS]
“And he wants to drive within that wheel and he’s managed to carry that on throughout his career so far, and he’s done it consistently at club level. It’s about now doing it consistently at international level and what better place to do that than starting in the quarter-final.”
Smith won over Marler but not without some initial resistance, having been put off by the fly-half attending a private school at the time. Quins were training at Brighton College when Smith – an attendee at the school – was drafted into the team and even wore his rugby socks to an exam so that he would be able to quickly get to training afterwards.
- Advert-free experience without interruptions.
- Rocket-fast speedy loading pages.
- Exclusive & Unlimited access to all our content.
Don’t miss…
Wales chiefs point finger after shirt mishap in Argentina Rugby World Cup loss[STATEMENT]
Rugby World Cup fans in hospital after ‘brutal attack from England supporters'[LATEST]
South Africa teach France another lesson off the pitch after knocking out hosts[REACTION]
It was that level of commitment that won the likes of Marler over. “For me it took a little while, I was like, ‘he’s this jumped-up, entitled, private school kid’,” Marler added.
“And then you realise how good he is at rugby, why he’s doing what he’s doing, and I knew I was going to listen to him.
“He was going to get us into positions where we could win more rugby matches, because he knows what he’s talking about. And he earned the respect of the group, because they knew how good he is, and we know how good he is as a player.”
Buy all of your Rugby World Cup 2023 programmes here.
Source: Read Full Article