Marcus Smith was last night recalled by England - as Owen Farrell turned to Jonny Wilkinson to help solve his goalkicking problems.
The battle to play fly-half against France cranked up as England rewarded Smith for his superb audition in Harlequins colours last weekend.
His summons coincided with Courtney Lawes being told his Six Nations is over due to a shoulder problem which continues his wretched run of bad luck.
A week after being omitted from the Brighton training camp to make space for No10 rival George Ford, Smith was told he had edged their selection duel.
“We’re really impressed with how Marcus played last week,” defence coach Kevin Sinfield said. “I thought he was outstanding, we all did. He's in the mix this week.”
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England played down concern for Farrell’s goalkicking but eight misses from 15 attempts in the first three rounds is reason to worry given their next two games are against the world’s top two nations.
“Half of it is overthinking,” said Farrell, who trails Wilkinson as England’s record points scorer by just 37 points.
“I obviously know how to kick. Part of the answer is trying not to work every single kick out and bounce around from one thing to another.
Marcus Smith last started for England in the home defeat by Scotland (Getty Images)
Smith delivered a man of the match display for Harlequins in front of England management on Saturday (CameraSport via Getty Images)“It’s just to kick, to try not to overthink too much, try not to fix everything.”
Farrell and Wilkinson, who lives close to England’s training base, have long worked together on an ad-hoc basis.
“I'm in no doubt Jonny will help over these coming weeks,” Sinfield said. “It has been a blip for Owen but he will work his way through it.
“When you are a guy of his stature and you have got that many caps under your belt you know what you need. It won’t be too long before he is back to his best.”
This is a particularly big week in the life of Sinfield who pits his coaching wits against one of his rugby league heroes in France defence coach Shaun Edwards.
Kevin Sinfield with team boss Steve Borthwick during England training (Dan Mullan - RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)“It’s a huge challenge,” he said. “Shaun is the best D coach in the world and has been for some time.
“I was a fan of his as a player growing up when he played in that great Wigan team and what he has achieved in his coaching career is second to none from a defensive point of view.
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“We never crossed paths in our playing careers and post-playing I’ve spoken to him twice on the phone. I feel a little bit in awe of him when I speak to him. I am looking forward to shaking his hand on Saturday.”
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