Northampton Saints Director of Rugby Phil Dowson believes that his fly half Fin Smith, is competing for the “hottest contested position in England”. After being named in Steve Borthwick’s squad for the 2024 Six Nations, Smith is set to battle for his test match debut in the upcoming competition that begins next month.
Fin Smith was named alongside Harlequins’ halfback Marcus Smith and Sale Sharks talisman George Ford, as the fly half options in the 2024 Six Nations squad. However at the end of last Summer, Fin finished fourth in the fly half pecking order, and was left out of the Rugby World Cup podium. He missed the grade for the trip to France, as Owen Farrell, Ford and Marcus Smith returned as bronze medallists.
However, as the hottest transfer saga of a bone-chilling winter comes to a close, Owen Farrell has been confirmed to join Racing 92 next Summer after much speculation. The Saracen stepped away from England duties at the end of November, with Smith first in line to the fly half vacancy amongst the squad. However, Fin Smith is not prepared to just sit back and make up the numbers, the Saints man has driven Northampton to the top of the Premiership table, and spear-headed an undefeated campaign so far in the Champions Cup.
Fin Smith is a serious contender to take the number 10 jersey, with his halfback partnership alongside Alex Mitchell presenting a viable option for Borthwick’s ‘new era’ England team. Northampton DoR Phil Dowson has only had strong feedback from Fin’s last stints in the England camp, and is delighted to see the 21-year-old back in the fold ahead of a potential test debut.
“I think Fin was pushing pretty hard in the World Cup (training camp) as well, for the World Cup squad. I think the feedback that Steve (Borthwick) gave was very, very positive around how he trained, the other players who had been in that camp, had said how good he had been.
“So yes, I think Steve and the rest of the coaches are aware of what he’s capable of. I think what we’ve seen from him recently, particularly, first half against Bayonne, in terms of sticking the ball in behind moving the ball to space, you know, all those bits and pieces of his game that have come on so far.
“We’re delighted for Fin, but again, it’s probably the hottest contested position in England at the moment. Really because Owen Farrell’s stepped away, but you still got Marcus Smith, George Ford’s one of the best players in the world at 10. So that’s really good competition for Finn and he’ll in no doubt relish that, and challenge on those boys every day.”
Dowson has produced a conveyor-belt of England talent at Franklin’s Gardens, as seven stars of cinch Stadium look to wear the rose in the upcoming Six Nations, more than any other Premiership club. The aforementioned halfback duo of Fin Smith and Alex Mitchell are joined by Tommy Freeman, Fraser Dingwall and George Furbank in the back-line, whilst Alex Coles and Tom Pearson gear up to pack down the England scrum in the coming weeks.
Speaking of Pearson, the back-row was another near-miss for the Rugby World Cup after making his test match debut in the preluding Summer. However, the former London Irishman then made haste for his new club, as Pearson was sent back to the Saints are an unsuccessful England audition.
The 24-year-old took the set-back in his stride, and continued to impress throughout the Premiership with stand-out performances. Pearson bagged a hat-trick in the one-way drubbing of Bayonne from a fortnight ago, in a final statement of intent for an England squad re-calling. Dowson was full of praise for the back-rower, and is excited to see how he progresses on his return to the England camp.
“I don’t necessarily think it was just that game against Bayonne, I think he’s been showing his physical attributes and his capability to break the game open from the word go, really. I think he came into an environment and he integrated into the environment very, very quickly, and I think he saw that in the way he played.
“And Steve’s obviously seen him as well in that camp, he was kept back in the World Cup camp a little bit longer to facilitate and to learn a bit more. So ‘TP’, he’s a young man but he’s got, you know, a good head on his shoulders, and he’s pushing hard every day.”
“I think he’s always been very intense. I think probably, that integration and our system has been very swift. And so therefore, he could have an impact in the game straightaway.
He was doing some very good stuff for Irish before the season, he gets picked up for that world cup camp based on his performances for Irish, which looked fairly intense as well.
“So I can only speak of how he’s been in our environment, and he’s been very professional. He’s been very driven and like I said, it’s been tough for him not being in for a full pre-season and coming into a new club, but his ability to slot in and have an impact in games and score hat-tricks in Europe is impressive.”
As Dowson discussed, Pearson is one of a handful of England call-ups who have navigated the deep waters of their former club’s financial liquidation. The 2022/23 Premiership season won’t be forgotten, as Worcester Warriors, Wasps, London Irish all collapsed, with reigning Championship winners Jersey Reds following suit at the start of the current season.
Steve Borthwick discussed the incredible willpower to survive such challenges in his Six Nations squad announcement, as he has named the likes of former Worcester centre Ollie Lawrence and ex-Irish back-row Chandler Cunningham-South in his squad. Dowson echoed Borthwick’s comments, and expressed his adulation at how the former Warriors, Wasps, Irishmen in his own squad have overcome the highest of hurdles.
“I think there’s loads of players within our environment. So Tom Cruse (Wasps), Fin Smith (Worcester), TP, Chunya (Munga – London Irish) Tarrek (Haffar – London Irish), probably missing somebody. But yeah, they’ve all had to adapt, they’ve all to and that’s a big change. I think from a psychological point of view, that’s a tough thing to get through but they’ve done it. We’ve tried to support them through it and I’m sure other clubs have done the same.
“With Bath taking on Ted Hill and the rest of that crew. I think that they’ve transitioned well, they’ve shown resilience. There’s loads of other players who haven’t potentially been as lucky and have had to travel a bit further afield.
“Brad Shields, who had sent the family to Perpignan and they’re (now) back in New Zealand. The fallout from those three clubs, and Jersey, it’s tough and one that hopefully the rugby community can get around those people still, and staff and players alike.”