Stick with Marcus, he's best in England

STEVE Borthwick has put three outside halves on hybrid contracts and he has less than a month to decide which one to select for the start of the Six Nations in Dublin.

- PAUL REES

George Ford started all five matches in last year's Six Nations with Marcus Smith injured at the start of the tournament but the Harlequin has been at the helm in the seven Tests since.

Fin Smith made his debut off the bench against Italy a year ago and made an impact when he came on against Japan in November with Ford having been the outside-half bench option in the first three autumn Tests.

A sub-plot is the injury suffered by full-back George Furbank last month. He has had surgery to repair a broken arm and is unlikely to be fit for the start of the Six Nations.

It is a position covered by Marcus Smith who has started there for club and country.

"Marcus is an outstanding 10, the best in England, and he should play there," said Danny Wilson, left, Smith's head coach at Harlequins. "There have been times when we have looked at things tactically and put him full-back at where we can attack channels early with him and if teams kick poorly to him he can cause so many problems.