The Smiths are back together again and what a precious opportunity this is for England’s leading playmakers to call the tune for the Lions.
Andy Farrell has named what will surely be the most English line-up of the whole 2025 crusade. With most of the huge Leinster contingent resting after their URC success, Steve Borthwick’s stars have a chance to make an early Test case – including nine of them in the starting XV to face Argentina.
Fin Smith at 10 and Marcus Smith at full-back is an intriguing prospect. That combination has been effective before for England and Farrell will hope that it can orchestrate a promising early showcase of his squad’s attacking potential.
Both men will know the score. They will be aware that Finn Russell has come into camp on the crest of a wave after guiding Bath to Premiership title glory. They will recognise that experience and pedigree make the Scot the front-runner to wear the No 10 shirt in the Test series against the Wallabies. But this pre-tour fixture in Dublin provides a valuable opportunity to score selection points, as the race for places begins in earnest.
After this encounter with the dangerous Pumas, the Lions have just five more games to sort out their best XV, before the series opener against Australia in Brisbane on July 19. The clock is already ticking. It is a tight timetable, so any imperious performances will thrust players into the Test reckoning rapidly.
For Fin Smith, this is a return to a happy place. Early last month, the rookie fly-half was outstanding as Northampton stunned mighty Leinster in a Champions Cup semi-final classic at the Aviva Stadium. The 23-year-old will survey the scene this time, savour the glorious flashbacks and use them to seize his chance to make a powerful statement. He can prove, despite his youth, that he has the control and composure to be a bona fide Test contender.
For Marcus Smith, his versatility helped him make the cut for the tour squad – when his confidence and form had temporarily deserted him – and now it means he has a starting role. In time, Blair Kinghorn and Hugo Keenan are bound to tussle for the right to be the first-choice full-back, but for now the more established of England’s Smiths can demonstrate his credentials, as someone capable of being a game-changing bench asset for the Lions.
Fin Smith’s familiar alliance with club-mate Alex Mitchell should give the British and Irish side some attacking fluency and also give the Saints scrum-half the opening audition for a place which had seemed to have Jamison Gibson-Park’s name on it until his recent injury scare. Tommy Freeman is another of the Northampton contingent who will enjoy being back where such a momentous club triumph took place – armed with thunderous personal momentum.
The Lions can unleash a staggering amount of back-line firepower in this game, with the potent combination of midfield pair Bundee Aki and Sione Tuipulotu and giant wing Duhan van der Merwe. Both of the imported Scots have made timely recoveries from injury to be involved and they are already deemed to be strong contenders for places in the Test XV. Farrell’s side shouldn’t be short of gainline impact in this fixture.
Up front, Ellis Genge and Luke Cowan-Dickie are a powerful England axis in the front row, with Genge especially capable of staking an early claim to become the pre-eminent loosehead prop, before Ireland’s Andrew Porter makes his first appearance. At tighthead, Finaly Bealham gets the start but it will surely come down to veteran Tadhg Furlong or England’s Will Stuart – another riding a wave – for the Test spot.
Captain Maro Itoje and Tadhg Beirne could be the second-row partnership to take on the Wallabies and what a complementary double-act it should be. Both are athletic and both are breakdown threats, as are all of the chosen men in the back row; Tom Curry, Jac Morgan and Ben Earl. All are opensides by trade, so expect plenty of poaching, dynamism in the loose and defensive tenacity.
Among the replacements, look out for the resumption of the Henry Pollock bandwagon. Heaven help Argentina if Northampton and England’s new sensation enters the fray with the Lions on a roll and wreaking havoc.
They should be capable of doing so, given the blend of power and X-factor invention in this line-up. It is game No 1 of the 2025 campaign so there will be cohesion issues; it won’t all be nice and smooth. Combinations will take time to knit together and flourish.
But it certainly looks good on paper. Given that so many players were unable to train in the Algarve due to club commitments, this is a promising show of force. Let the fun begin…
