Quins star Smith shines as England go close

Marcus Smith’s love of the big stage and ability to shine when the pressure is at its zenith carried England to within a whisker of claiming a first win over New Zealand at Twickenham since 2012 and only a ninth victory ever against the All Blacks.

But the fact he was ultimately denied the chance to finish the job in what turned out to be an agonising 24-22 defeat, should haunt boss Steve Borthwick every bit as much as it will the Harlequins fly-half.

Smith demonstrated all the nous, creativity and big-game temperament which earned him a Lions call-up in 2021, as he kept England on the rails with unerring penalty kicks to reel the Kiwis in after the visitors had plundered two brilliantly executed tries.

The 25-year-old, earning his 36th cap, landed four kicks and was flawless off the tee, although his real stand-out moment came five minutes into the second half when he gambled to intercept a Cortez Ratima pass flying past him and set off on a dazzling run from deep in his own half.

He was being chased down but had the presence of mind to find support in the shape of full-back George Furbank and a quick transfer to a charging Immanuel Feyi-Waboso secured a try which gave England the lead for the first time in the match.

Smith’s conversion, followed by another penalty, extended the lead to 22-14 – meaning the All Blacks needed at least two scores.

There were 62 minutes on the clock. All was looking rosy. So what did Borthwick do? He decided to take off a player clearly in the zone and brought on George Ford instead – a fine player, but one who is all about setting rhythms from the start and not an impact sub.

Ford struggled to pick up the tempo of the contest. He missed a crucial tackle that allowed Mark Tele’a to run into the right corner as New Zealand hit back to lead by two points and then failed to nail two chances to win the match – hitting a post with a penalty and then sending a close-range drop goal wide at the very last.

Scroll back to the Ireland home match in the Six Nations earlier this year when Smith made no mistake with his last-minute drop goal to win it. In the form he was in, no one would have expected him to miss either of those last-gasp chances to create a bit of history.

It was cruel on a heroic England, who also lost twice in New Zealand in the summer by ridiculously slender margins – 16-15 in Dunedin and 24-17 in Auckland.

Smith was desperate to make amends for that first defeat, when he missed three kicks. Any one of those converted and England would have had only a third ever win against them on their own patch.

It will feel hard to think of the positives after such a near-miss but there were plenty and one of them was another Quins player – Chandler Cunningham-South.

The flanker – earning his eighth cap – was imposing in contact and part of a very disciplined defence which avoided yielding unnecessary penalties.

The 21-year-old earned one of the biggest cheers of the afternoon for a tremendous hit on All Blacks forward Tupou Vaa’ai. The dreadlocked forward jumped up and hyped up the crowd after his tackle and they responded – delighting in his energy and fight.

He was also part of scrum which excelled at the outset, winning one of the penalties that England used to keep the scoreboard ticking along nicely.

He followed Smith to the sidelines on 65 minutes – three minutes after his club team-mate. He too will wonder what might have been, as his side still held that eight-point lead at that point.

There were cameos off the bench for two other players from the Stoop – Fin Baxter and Alex Dombrandt entering the fray late on. But it was the hooking of Smith which became the defining moment of the afternoon at Twickenham’s newly renamed Allianz Stadium.