Harlequins have just revealed the incredible reason why Marcus Smith played flanker last weekend
Last weekend, Harlequins star fly-half Marcus Smith raised eyebrows when he packed down at flanker for his team. He normally plays fly-half.
The men from the Stoop explained their decision today on social media as to why they put the 21-year-old in at the back row. He weighs just 81kg so this was certainly not the norm for him.
The youngster is considered by many to be one of the brightest young lights in rugby, having already almost amassed 100 caps for Harlequins at such a young age.
Fans were raving over his impressive performance this weekend for the men from London.
Marcus Smith is just looking better and better with every match #Quins
— Alex Hudson (@AJFHudson) August 30, 2020
Marcus Smith what a player 👏👏
— Charles Rylands (@Charlesrylands7) August 30, 2020
Marcus Smith gets a ticking off from some of his team mates – next minute – steps and pace to set up a try. Lovely reaction #COYQ #HARvNOR
— NLB (@NevsLeftBoot) August 30, 2020
Get Marcus Smith in an England shirt quick time #Quins
— Stephen Orwin (@OrwinStephen) August 30, 2020
It was a shock for Harlequins fans however when they saw their star man pack down at the scrum for the team. Smith is not suited to play in the back row with his size.
Yesterday at a five-metre scrum to Northampton, Harlequins slotted in Marcus Smith at blindside flanker and moved openside flanker Will Evans to fly-half. Clever move with Taqele Naiyaravoro trucking off the blinside wing. pic.twitter.com/TvpZ4rnZCx
— Charlie Morgan (@CharlieFelix) August 31, 2020
Quins putting Marcus Smith in the back row there ultimately led to Will Evans winning that turn over, in a position he may not have been otherwise. Good, interesting play. #HARvNOR #GallagherPrem
— TomGeorge (@Tomge) August 30, 2020
Fans seemed to quickly catch on why Smith was playing in the position quite early on.
@Harlequins packing Marcus Smith at blindside?!?!?
— Charlie⚫ Drink Half a glass of water (@FearlessFred) August 30, 2020
Marcus Smith at flanker and Will Evans defending at fly half I really like as an out the box solution to a problem.
Too many coaches dont do things because it looks wrong. Maybe having your 6 in the defensive lines off scrums is something teams will do more.
— Benjamin Sutton (@BenSuttonJackal) August 30, 2020
Harlequins today released a video with Marcus himself explaining exactly why he had been put at the back of the scrum and the reasoning behind it is actually brilliant.
More teams should adopt this on their own try line for certain.
