It is 21 months since Marcus Smith last started a match at fly-half for England.

In the wake of an opening-round defeat by Ireland in the 2025 Six Nations, the 27-year-old fell behind Fin Smith and George Ford in race for number 10 and never recovered.

Head coach Steve Borthwick has instead preferred him as a full-back or a versatile replacement option.

After Smith stepped into scrum-half against Fiji in the summer, there was even talk of him covering nine as part of his portfolio.

But a start at 10 – his preferred role and one he played for eight successive Tests before being shunted elsewhere – has not even looked likely.

It does now.

With first-choice Fin Smith a major doubt after sustaining a calf injury, Marcus Smith is the form fly-half pick to start against Australia on Sunday.

Smith, who missed the opening two Prem games, has been key to Harlequins’ recent revival.

His clever support line helped set up a try for Cadan Murley inside two minutes of Saturday’s win over Exeter. His late sweep to the blindside overloaded the defence for Jack Kenningham’s try at the other end of the contest.

Harlequins were far more ruthless than Chiefs.

The visitors came away with five tries from seven visits to Exeter’s 22m. The Chiefs corresponding figure was four from 13.

Smith’s leadership was key as he steered his side back from seven points down early in the second half to victory.

That game management will be under the microscope if Smith does get the nod to start against the Wallabies.

Borthwick will also have noted a brewing batch of young English-qualified forwards – two-try Lucas Schmid, second row Elliot Williams and replacement front row Will Hobson, Sam Riley, Ollie Streeter among them – who came together well in a hard-nosed performance.

Leicester could easily be sitting pretty, not only at the top of the table, but also with a 100% record.

The 40-38 defeat by Saracens in the opening round – their only Prem loss so far this season – was a game which could have crumbled any which way.

Since then, they have ground their way into first place via some stereotypically forthright performances.

Captain Ollie Chessum has arrived late to this Prem campaign. A foot injury kept him out until last weekend’s win over Northampton.

But he has been bristling with intent, embodying Leicester’s ethos.

After a grapple with Henry Pollock and others in the East Midlands derby, he briefly got shirty with England team-mate Ellis Genge at Ashton Gate.

Knowing smiles were quickly shared between the pair rather than any flying fists.

But Chessum was a nuisance all night for the Bears, charging down scrum-half Harry Randall in the opening two minutes, wrecking the hosts’ line-out, securing a couple of turnovers and bringing his physicality and energy to bear in close quarters.

It was a performance to vindicate a bumper new contract, announced last week.

For their investment, Tigers and coach Geoff Parling have the perfect figurehead to rally around.

Last week, Borthwick identified the intensity of the breakdown battle as one of the areas in which the Prem is a significant step down from the Test scene.

Unsaid, but perhaps implied, was the suggestion that champions Northampton’s free-running, free-scoring style, for all its thrills, would be choked off at source on the international stage.

Gloucester seemed to be listening.

With referee Sara Cox promoting the contest on the floor, Val Rapava-Ruskin, Jack Clement and Dewi Lake all came up with big jackal turnovers as the visitors went toe to toe with Saints for an hour.

It wasn’t until the 34th minute that Northampton made their first inroads into the opposition 22m as their usual flow and cutting edge went missing.

Northampton found a way. Two rolling mauls bought them parity on the half-time scoreboard, and a pair of well-worked final-quarter tries from George Hendy and Rory Hutchinson ensured a bonus-point win.

But after Bristol and Leicester had success with similar approaches earlier this season, coaches Phil Dowson and Sam Vesty can expect more teams to try to target the breakdown and pour sludge into Saints’ attacking gears.

The viral moment of the weekend came at The Rec.

Defeat by Gloucester last weekend meant that Bath fly-half Finn Russell had been denied his traditional shushing of the Shed at Kingsholm.

He clearly had some housery to get out of his system.

Midway through the first half, with Bath having just retaken the lead against Sale, Russell gathered George Ford’s chip ahead and, as the referee’s whistle blew for a penalty for the visitors, bumped the chasing Sale fly-half to the floor with a shoulder to the chest.

Russell then dropped the ball on to Ford’s head as his opposite number attempted to get to his feet., external

A melee ensued. Russell escaped censure.

Referee Anthony Woodthorpe could have punished Russell with a penalty for breaching the spirit of sportsmanship, advancing Sale up the pitch and giving them a shot at a line-out from close range – the source of their only try in the match to that point.

It wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the match. Sale failed to capitalise on a similar platform a few minutes later.

But it might discourage such cheap-shot taunts as Russell’s.

Or should officials let such things slide as part of the game’s rough and tumble?

Max Hicks produced another big performance in another promising display for Newcastle Red Bulls, this time against Saracens.

The 27-year-old, who was born in Auckland but qualifies for England through his mother, is a back-row triple threat, making gains on the floor (two turnovers), with ball in hand (56m off 11 carries) and at the line-out with quality jumping skills honed during a childhood playing high-level Aussie Rules.

Newcastle led for the majority of the match.

Their hopes of victory were torpedoed by second-half yellow cards for Sam Graham and Alex Hearle. Saracens scored four of their six tries in a 17-minute period with at least a man advantage.

Newcastle go into the international break bottom of the table. It is a familiar position, but they are just a point behind Exeter and Sale and there is a buzz of something building.

Bath back row Miles Reid made an interesting observation earlier this season, suggesting rugby had failed to tap into the sport’s classic collared shirts becoming a fashion trend.

While Formula 1 and football have done limited edition high-end collaboration with brands, Reid wondered why rugby has failed to capture the zeitgeist., external

Bristol revived their old format of using letters, rather than numbers, on the back of their shirts as a one-off for Friday’s game against Leicester., external

Saracens wore an old-school hooped number against Sale last month as part of their 150th anniversary season celebrations.

Prem Rugby got various stars decked out in vintage numbers for their season launch event.

But is there a bold breakthrough still to be made by a club, that could help the game as a whole?