After starting eight successive matches as England's 10 between summer 2024 and the second round of last year's Six Nations, Marcus Smith has not had another sniff of the shirt. The 27-year-old, who has been clear in his preference for playing at fly-half, has uncomplainingly got on with being redeployed as a full-back or a utility bench option since. It is easy to forget how prolific he was in creating or assisting tries when he was steering England's attack. He claimed seven try assists in 2024 and was directly involved in 13% of England's total tries. By that metric, only Australia's Tom Wright was more central to a Six Nations or Rugby Championships team's scoring. Smith's running ability is clear, but he is an underrated kicker out of hand, finding his wings with well-weighted bombs, and a brave tackler. There are doubts about his ability to balance his natural flair with game management, but a shrewd display in Harlequins' win over Saracens in October showed he can strike it right.…