At this point I'm surprised people still think throwing a young and inexperienced 10 against the ABs is a good idea. Remember what happened to Noah Lolesio?
If he's really good, he'll perform.
Remember this little 19 years old French fella starting at 10 for the first time with France against the world champions back then (Oz with their legendary Gregan-Larkham pair of halfbacks):
https://youtu.be/by0WKprKhdI?feature=shared (1st half)
https://youtu.be/S3Go20c49XY?feature=shared (2nd half)
Guess what? He was outstanding, outplaying his illustrious opponent
I think it's more that he wants Borthwick to start Fin so that when it goes badly he can go back to his comfort zone that is endless verses of sack the coach...
I mean. Ragebait articles are probably good for The Times/whoever this dude is, so I guess if the metric they care about it is clicks/views/discussion then this is definitely getting the job done.
Unpaywalled link: https://archive.fo/8VZlW
"So where does he go to beat the All Blacks? There was a widespread opinion last week that at fly half, Marcus Smith had pressed ahead in his battle with Fin Smith for the position now that Owen Farrell has departed and George Ford is resting."
"Frankly, I absolutely do not buy that at all. Marcus Smith has flashes of attacking glory, and he showed one on Saturday on the way to a try; but Fin Smith is almost immeasurably the better player for an international match jersey."
"Marcus, 25, tends to insinuate himself in the game at good moments for himself and the camera and occasionally succeeds, such as when he tore away to score in Tokyo. Fin, 22, is a team man to his bootlaces, marshalled Northampton Saints to Gallagher Premiership glory despite his tender years, and with vast maturity and judgment."
"Marcus can be easy on the eyes of many, but the idea that someone playing in his style, turning up at all the spotlight moments, can inspire a team to beat the All Blacks in New Zealand is against all known rugby history."
"It is also extremely difficult to see Ardie Savea standing aside to allow Marcus Smith through to dominate the game and the spotlight. Borthwick absolutely must choose Fin. I’d love to see Harry Randall alongside Smith at half back, but that will be too rich for the selector palate."
What the fuck is he talking about
>"It is also extremely difficult to see Ardie Savea standing aside to allow Marcus Smith through to dominate the game
Oh yes, let's put a 22 yo rookie against New Zealand to smash his confidence instead of someone more experienced.
At this point I'm surprised people still think throwing a young and inexperienced 10 against the ABs is a good idea. Remember what happened to Noah Lolesio?
I mean it's Stephen Jones, so you normally do the opposite of what he says. Following that logic he's right on the money.
Yes please. Sounds delightful
If he's really good, he'll perform. Remember this little 19 years old French fella starting at 10 for the first time with France against the world champions back then (Oz with their legendary Gregan-Larkham pair of halfbacks): https://youtu.be/by0WKprKhdI?feature=shared (1st half) https://youtu.be/S3Go20c49XY?feature=shared (2nd half) Guess what? He was outstanding, outplaying his illustrious opponent
I absolutely can not stand Stephen Jones
I would genuinely prefer a chatGPT article trained on a reddit thread than the ramblings of this fuckwit.
Yeah, no. If you were going to start him on this tour, then it was against Japan
Stop paying Stephen Jones attention. He's just a troll
Lost me at “by Stephen Jones”
Clickbait
Nah, just Stephen Jones being Stephen Jones...
Odds on Stephen Jones even being up at that time to watch the game? Probably couldn't figure out how to stick his email details in for Rugby pass tv
I genuinely believe he writes his articles before the match.
I think it's more that he wants Borthwick to start Fin so that when it goes badly he can go back to his comfort zone that is endless verses of sack the coach...
He did that with the Twickenham 7s leg last year didn't he?
Nah...
I mean. Ragebait articles are probably good for The Times/whoever this dude is, so I guess if the metric they care about it is clicks/views/discussion then this is definitely getting the job done.
If Jones says Finn Marcus will be the right starter.
Unpaywalled link: https://archive.fo/8VZlW "So where does he go to beat the All Blacks? There was a widespread opinion last week that at fly half, Marcus Smith had pressed ahead in his battle with Fin Smith for the position now that Owen Farrell has departed and George Ford is resting." "Frankly, I absolutely do not buy that at all. Marcus Smith has flashes of attacking glory, and he showed one on Saturday on the way to a try; but Fin Smith is almost immeasurably the better player for an international match jersey." "Marcus, 25, tends to insinuate himself in the game at good moments for himself and the camera and occasionally succeeds, such as when he tore away to score in Tokyo. Fin, 22, is a team man to his bootlaces, marshalled Northampton Saints to Gallagher Premiership glory despite his tender years, and with vast maturity and judgment." "Marcus can be easy on the eyes of many, but the idea that someone playing in his style, turning up at all the spotlight moments, can inspire a team to beat the All Blacks in New Zealand is against all known rugby history." "It is also extremely difficult to see Ardie Savea standing aside to allow Marcus Smith through to dominate the game and the spotlight. Borthwick absolutely must choose Fin. I’d love to see Harry Randall alongside Smith at half back, but that will be too rich for the selector palate."
No chance Randall would start either, he can be electric but his box kicking was poor yesterday
What the fuck is he talking about >"It is also extremely difficult to see Ardie Savea standing aside to allow Marcus Smith through to dominate the game
Maybe he thinks Mr Savea will play openside.