Matt Dawson column: “Finn Smith is England’s number one fly-half”

Finn Smith produced the best defensive display we have seen from an England fly-half in several years.

His style of attacking was through constant tackling against an impressively physical Fiji side.

His match management was also tremendous – he showed an excellent balance of finesse and control, and made some solid decisions when things weren’t going to plan in the first half.

His ability to strategically calm the team down and make big calls is something he has really excelled at.

In my opinion, Finn Smith is England’s number one player and should start against New Zealand next week.

I think head coach Steve Borthwick sees it that way too, because Finn has proven he can perform in big Test matches.

George Ford started last Saturday’s match against Australia for leadership reasons, and part of that decision was to provide continuity and reward his form from the Argentina tour.

But England’s performance against Fiji was a significant step up from the performance against Australia.

The Wallabies lost in Italy on Saturday, so we shouldn’t overstate this win, which should have been by a bigger margin given how fast Australia was.

Fiji, on the other hand, was more threatening and presented a much more difficult challenge.

Finn Smith is still only 23 – looking forward two years, with Ford challenging him but also providing support, I think Finn will be in a very strong place as a player.

Marcus Smith should also be considered an option at the right time and against the right opposition.

He is developing as a player and starting to find his feet, but he also needs the freedom to show his unique qualities.

New Zealand brought in Damian McKenzie, who scored the decisive try in the win over Scotland, and it shows the importance of having players who can make a real impact off the bench.

This kind of presence can make the difference between winning the World Cup or not.

McKenzie watches the game from the sidelines and thinks about how he can make a difference when he is involved. His decision-making and error rate have improved significantly since the beginning of his career.

If we can get Marcus to be that type of impact player, his presence in the backfield could be valuable.

However, at the moment, I don’t think Marcus is the ideal solution at full-back, so that position is still available.

The All Blacks will challenge England’s backfield, so it should be tight.

It is a position that must become a real force, both defensively and in terms of counter-attacking threat.

At the moment, I don’t think Marcus is a full-back at the highest level. I have a hard time seeing the benefit of playing there.

I want the ball in his hands as much as possible, but I think he has to be on the front line, especially in the last 20 minutes.