Premiership Final

[Postiger2]

Just watched it again. What a game. Love the way Quins play. Owen Farrell can only dream of having the game-breaking skills that Marcus Smith possess. What a player. Marchant as well, twice the player Olly Lawrence is.

[teds]

Just watched it again. What a game. Love the way Quins play. Owen Farrell can only dream of having the game-breaking skills that Marcus Smith possess. What a player. Marchant as well, twice the player Olly Lawrence is.

I would add that Smith’s place kicking in the premiership final was outstanding.

[soggytiger]

Could be the next Carlos Spencer?

[BigDan50]

I think Farrell and Ford will be behind Smith for international starts next season, he has everything in his game, let’s hope Eddie gives him a run of games.

[Tigers86asw]

I think Farrell and Ford will be behind Smith for international starts next season, he has everything in his game, let’s hope Eddie gives him a run of games.

Smith is a class act but I still think England’s problems lie in the centres and their style of play as much as fly half.

Smith currently plays with no fear in a system that suits him completely. He has complete freedom plus he has runners all around him. What England would do for Quins’ 12!

[kk20gb30]

Perhaps a pertinent question would be whether Marcus Smith would be permitted to play for England in the same manner as he does for 'quins...
Irrespective of talent the international game has (forced, by Coaches) constraints and more than ever a safety first and risk elimination structure is preferred.England are arch pragmatists (rightly or wrongly) and it could well be a case of Smith changing for England rather than England changing for Smith.Would not be the first or last occasion that instinct and flair were suppressed in the name of 'winning by numbers and taking the correct options' .....

[Cardiff Tig]

Perhaps a pertinent question would be whether Marcus Smith would be permitted to play for England in the same manner as he does for 'quins...
Irrespective of talent the international game has (forced, by Coaches) constraints and more than ever a safety first and risk elimination structure is preferred. England are arch pragmatists (rightly or wrongly) and it could well be a case of Smith changing for England rather than England changing for Smith. Would not be the first or last occasion that instinct and flair were suppressed in the name of 'winning by numbers and taking the correct options' .....

I think that's an interesting question. I also don't think it's only relevant to how England plays either. In international rugby, you can't play with the mindset that we will score more than you and not worry about what the other team does. Ignoring England who are overly pragmatic IMO, teams that are much more attack-minded e.g. NZ, France, Scotland (maybe!) still don't allow themselves to ship points like Quins do and try and play catch-up rugby.

International rugby is a different beast altogether and Smith will have to change his approach to some extent. Like you say, I just hope that England change more!

[chris111]

All being well, a JVP-Smith pairing at 9-10 for England in 2-3 years time….? That could be worth watching!

[ourla]

Without wishing to be a party pooper 9 years ago Quins won the Prem with a similar style of play and looked what happened since.

As much as my heart would love to see them repeat it consistently over the next couple of seasons my head is wondering if realistically they will not get found out.

Either way it will be fun watching.

[ourla]

And who wouldn't want to win the Prem (in style) once every 10 years...

[Scott1]

You know my feelings about Chiefs but this is a genuine question. Are they really that good or were they just playing in a 2 team league? You have to admit our league was poor for a few seasons but now there's Bristol,Sale,Quins (can they repeat it?) and other sides very capable on their day. Or was this just a one off crazy season? Be interesting to see what happens next season!

[kpj tiger]

You know my feelings about Chiefs but this is a genuine question. Are they really that good or were they just playing in a 2 team league? You have to admit our league was poor for a few seasons but now there's Bristol,Sale,Quins (can they repeat it?) and other sides very capable on their day. Or was this just a one off crazy season? Be interesting to see what happens next season!

You could say the same of Tigers or Wasps in years gone by

[Scott1]

You know my feelings about Chiefs but this is a genuine question. Are they really that good or were they just playing in a 2 team league? You have to admit our league was poor for a few seasons but now there's Bristol,Sale,Quins (can they repeat it?) and other sides very capable on their day. Or was this just a one off crazy season? Be interesting to see what happens next season!

You could say the same of Tigers or Wasps in years gone by

True

[JP14]

Exeter could suffer the same mistake Cockers made (and admitted) in the 2013/14 season by not managing returning Lions players properly. Baxter is a good coach, but he does like to use his big players quite early. In the 2019-20 season pre-Covid, Henry Slade played for Exeter on the 10th November a week after playing the World Cup final.

[mol2]

At international level defenses are better.

Exeter did not look after the ball well enough, their scrum malfunctioned and Quins took advantage. International teams simply don't let sides score points that easily so playing the run it from here there and everywhere is punished more heavily by well organised aggressive defense.

Smith's attack might need to be tempered and will he be run over by the opposition attacking the fly half channel? Time will tell but he hasn't yet got the tackling skills of Ford, another small man playing international rugby.