Marcus will come back bouncing, says Wilson

DANNY Wilson insists Marcus Smith will “come bouncing back” into The Stoop ready to light up the Premiership and Europe after giving him time off to soak up the Florida sunshine.

- By GARY FITZGERALD

The Harlequins boss insists, with so many massively important clashes ahead of them in the coming weeks, it was right the player side-stepped yesterday’s crunch derby battle against Saracents to enjoy some crucial post-England rest and recovery to recharge his batteries.

Smith and Quins’ other Six Nations men will return to the club this week to prepare for the clash with Bath on Saturday, and then the huge match with Leinster a week later.

Wilson said: “During my couple of years of being an international coach, I saw first-hand how physically and mentally draining it can be coming out of a competition like the Six Nations or World Cup. So if we’re true to managing our players — and they need to be managed — we need to be buying into this.