| Venue: Twickenham Stadium Date: Saturday, 11 March Kick-off: 16:45 GMT |
| Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live; follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app. |
The future is now… again.
Marcus Smith was 18 when first called up to an England training camp by then-head coach Eddie Jones.
Now aged 24, it seems the fly-half will finally get his chance to take charge of England's attack without the influence of Owen Farrell against France on Saturday.
Given the natural rugby talent Smith has displayed at Harlequins, it is what many England fans have wanted for a long time.
Jones teased Smith's followers, including him in training camps for four years before finally handing him a Test debut against the United States in 2021.
Then, once Smith was an established part of the team, he shared playmaker duties with captain Farrell.
England have a new head coach now and Steve Borthwick is apparently unafraid to make big calls.
Farrell is on the bench - and starting fly-half Smith's time has come.
Why now?
Since his first game in charge against Scotland, Borthwick has made it clear he would choose teams tailored to that weekend's opponents.
"For this game it's Marcus to start and Owen to come off the bench," Borthwick told BBC Sport, having earlier said the decision was not down to Farrell's poor goal-kicking against Wales.
He highlighted France's "cohesion", "huge forward pack", "incredible pace out wide" and "brilliant" half-backs Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack as the main challenges Saturday's visitors pose.
The pace that Smith and promising young scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet will inject into the game should keep France's big forwards on the move and the Quins back has the creativity to counter Dupont and Ntamack.
"They are a team that kick the ball further than anyone else in international rugby," added Borthwick.
"This is a different team to Wales. That deserves a different plan."
A bright new future
Before this, Smith has not profited from Borthwick's select-as-you-go policy, which has also seen veteran scrum-half Ben Youngs and centre Manu Tuilagi dropped.
Smith started at fly-half against Scotland, with Farrell at 12, before Farrell took the 10 shirt and Smith earned a combined total of nine minutes off the bench against Italy and Wales.
But the calls for change from England fans have become louder and louder given the 31-year-old Farrell's inconsistency over the past few seasons.
Smith showed a glimpse of what he can offer with a cross-field kick to Max Malins for England's opening try in the 29-23 defeat at home to Scotland.
He is far from a novice with 20 caps already, but this will be the biggest game of Smith's life.
Former England and Harlequins wing Ugo Monye believes handing him the reins now is the next step in the side's rebuild.
"They've put in their foundations - good defence, kick pressure and set-piece - but they have to do more to beat France and Ireland, and I think bringing in Marcus Smith is the route to go down," Monye said on Rugby Union Daily.
"Marcus Smith is a vision of how England would like to attack. This Saturday we get a first glimpse of what that is going to look like.
"The only disappointing thing about Saturday is that it is going to hammer it down with rain, so the game might not allow for Smith to bring his Harlequins game.
"You know when Marcus Smith is at 10, you've got to be on red alert in attack. He will play from everywhere, he will see opportunities.
"This Twickenham crowd has been crying out for excitement, attacking flair."
Will the risk pay off?
Some questions do loom over the selection.
After so little time with a new head coach, England's cohesion has already been found wanting in this tournament and the fact Smith was sent back to play for Harlequins on the rest weekend may impact that further.
Borthwick explained: "Several of our backs didn't have as much game time [against Wales].
"To make sure players are in the right position for selection for the following Test match, do you train for two and a half days or do you go and play 80 minutes at Twickenham in front of a big crowd and a loud atmosphere?"
Borthwick chose the latter and Smith put in a man-of-the-match performance as Harlequins thrashed Exeter 40-5 in the Premiership.
The fly-half will combine with inside centre Ollie Lawrence in an unfamiliar partnership, but may feel at home despite that - given the similarly physical games of Lawrence and Andre Esterhuizen, who plays with Smith at Quins.
Monye says the "greater attacking threat" offered by Smith at the gainline could also give Lawrence more freedom.
Farrell's defence, though, would be useful against a devastating French backline as Smith is almost half a foot shorter at 5ft 9in and nearly two stone lighter at 12st 13lb.
Saturday could be the start of a new era of English rugby, but it remains to be seen how long that era will last.
After just three games in charge, Borthwick has shown nobody is undroppable.
He was praised by Sir Clive Woodward for his bold decision, with the World Cup-winning coach saying he would like to see Smith play the whole match.
Borthwick is not ready to fully commit to the future yet, though, as he added: "Marcus will be on the field at the start of the game and Owen on the field at the end of the game. Owen will captain the team when he comes onto the pitch."
Source: BBC Rugby Union News