A tale of two Smiths: Fin solves England’s biggest problem to leave Marcus stuck in limbo

Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. It is, of course, far too early to call 22-year-old Fin Smith a great but the traits the fly-half demonstrated on his first international start – as England finally ended their year of woe in close matches by dramatically defeating France 26-25 in a stone-cold thriller – signify the brightest of futures. Facing the challenge of a France team who not only demolished Wales 43-0 eight days prior, to kickstart a presumed Six Nations grand slam bid, but also handed England a record 53-10 loss the last time they came to Allianz Stadium two years ago, Smith rose to the occasion magnificently. open image in gallery Fin was able to celebrate with his family and friends after the victory Sadly, those misses typified a scratchy display from Smith Sr, which also saw him ill-advisedly run into contact on halfway rather than kicking ahead, immediately get stripped of the ball by Bielle-Biarrey and only avoid France scoring in the aftermath because they inexplicably dropped the ball with the line at their mercy as part of a catalogue of handling errors. “He had great composure and you could see the cohesion factor between him and Alex Mitchell.” open image in gallery Fin and Northampton teammate Alex Mitchell celebrated a dramatic late win Fin was far from the only reason England claimed a long-awaited win, with a number of impressive performances throughout the team, not least from an overhauled bench as Ben Curry made a constant nuisance of himself, Jamie George and Ollie Chessum completely shored up a creaking lineout and Daly and Fin Baxter scored tries.