MIKE BROWN: Marcus Smith is a talent and did well in his first England start at full-back… better teams will give him a sterner test but he’s definitely an option for Steve Borthwick

• Marcus Smith is not suited to playing No 15 at the highest level despite his talent
• He did well without experience tonight but bigger teams would exploit him 
• It was worthwhile trying him there in case Freddie Steward gets injured
• Latest Rugby World Cup 2023 news, including fixtures, live scores and results

It is not easy to move from No10 to full-back. Loads of players have tried to switch and failed. It’s all well and good saying Marcus Smith has played well there in training, but that’s so different to the realities of a Test match.

Marcus is exceptionally talented. But he had no experience at full-back before the Chile game. For his first start there, I thought he did well. He looked great in unstructured situations, using his speed off the mark to beat players. He offered himself as a second receiver to get England’s attack moving.

Two tries tells its own story, and it was a good performance from England with Henry Arundell scoring five tries. I’d love to see Arundell start against Samoa now and see if he can make the step up in opposition at Test level. Maybe he could even push himself into contention for a quarter-final spot because he has the serious X-factor England needs. The same applies to Smith.

Marcus Smith is exceptionally talented but had no experience at No 15 for the Chile game, and while he looked great in unstructured situations, he made mistakes

Smith won’t start at 15 in the big games because Freddie Steward is nailed on there, but it was still worthwhile playing him in that position against Chile. England need to know what the plan is if Steward suffers an injury or Steve Borthwick needs a change in game plan.

The basics of a full-back are specialist skills. It’s so different, taking high balls in the air, landing, getting smashed, picking yourself up from under bodies and getting back in the line.

It takes time and experience to understand the basics of the back field. You need to know when to run, when to kick, and when to pass. You’re 20 metres behind the front line, often back there on your own. It you make a poor decision, with no one close to bail you out, it can put the team under huge pressure.

Smith didn’t have that against Chile.

The South Americans approached the game so positively. They gave it a good crack with ball in hand and tried to play. But they were miles off the quality required at Test level.

The basics of a full-back are specialist skills and Smith did not have them in this rout. A good team would pepper him with man-and-ball kicks

It was worth experimenting with Smith in case Freddie Steward gets injured or Steve Borthwick needs a change of gameplan

England’s kicking was better against Chile and they capitalised. They’ll be pleased with how ruthless they were after a slow start.

But after Owen Farrell sent Arundell over for his first try, it was one-way traffic. Better sides than Chile will test Smith at full-back in defence or catch him out if he leaves space.

A good team would pepper him with man-and-ball kicks. Chile weren’t able to do that but I think Smith can be an option as a 23rd man for the rest of the tournament and offer a real spark off the bench that may be needed in tight knock-out games.

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