Where are the doubters now? All the talk in the week was about Steve Borthwick’s decision to hand Fin Smith his first Test start at fly-half and shift his namesake Marcus to full-back to accommodate him.

Plenty thought it was unwise to move the elder Smith from his preferred position but it proved a masterstroke by Borthwick as Fin delivered a sterling performance on the big stage. Rugby World were in the press box in Twickenham and had our eyes on Fin solely throughout the entire 80 minutes and here’s what we saw…

Read more: Watch France hooker Mauvaka’s cheeky underam lineout throw v England

Fin Smith’s first-half involvements v France in the 2025 Six Nations

Everything worked out nicely for Smith but it was a bit of a sketchy start for the 22-year-old as he dallied a little too long when looking to chip the ball cross-field, allowing Gregory Alldritt to charge him down just 40 seconds into the game.

He regularly dropped back as a second full-back alongside Marcus Smith and the two also covered kicks on the wing when needed.

Smith regularly added his weight as the second man in a collision and also made a fine chop tackle on France flanker Francois Cros from the first phase off a lineout in the 11th minute.

He put a grubber through that bounced nicely for France full-back Thomas Ramos and momentarily had England worried but Smith showcased excellent work-rate by getting out to take the legs of dangerous wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey.

Smith’s full kicking repertoire was on display at Allianz Stadium. He put a nice contestable bomb up from a free-kick which almost fell nicely for Henry Slade in the 16th minute.

Smith was accurate with a kick to the corner after a Tom Curry jackal penalty and when England made it into the 22, he dummied and went himself, not making major yards but keeping the French defence honest as his usual style is to get the ball through the hands quickly.

Ever since he emerged on the scene as a 17-year-old at Worcester, Smith’s effort and attitude in defence has not been questioned. Further evidence of his willingness to get back came when Antoine Dupont knocked on with the line begging and Smith diving at his ankles in the 21st minute.

Related: Ten things you should know about England fly-half Fin Smith

Marcus might be the faster of the two Smiths but Fin is no slouch and he showed a good turn of pace to get off the line and up to Matthieu Jalibert five metres from England’s line. That pressure rushed Jalibert into passing to Damian Penaud who spilled the ball in the 22nd minute – one of a litany of uncustomary French handling errors.

In the backfield, Smith sprinted from right to left only for the ball to be kicked down the middle with Henry Slade mopping up instead. The Exeter man didn’t help his No 10 out too much with a scrappy bounce pass but Smith still managed to get a little left-foot poke away before being clattered by Dupont. He took the contact well, bouncing straight back up.

With the game still scoreless, a slight lack of accuracy in England’s exit saw Fin Smith juggle the ball before delivering a pass slightly behind Marcus Smith whose clearance kick was charged down. England escaped thanks to some good work from Alex Mitchell but the margins are very fine at this level.

Smith was preparing for good attacking ball with a lineout in the French 22, only for the ball not to find George Martin and instead he did well to eventually suppress a rampaging Peato Mauvaka.

When France finally did break the deadlock, Smith was unable to lay a finger on Dupont as he dived despairingly looking for a tap tackle in the build-up to Bielle-Biarrey’s opening score.

Another well-placed left-footed grubber from Smith put France momentarily under pressure and he had a hand in England’s opening score just before the break.

Smith showed great hands to pick up Curry’s flick after England’s attack had got scrappy in the France 22.They say you make your own luck and Smith and England were fortunate that the ball then appeared to spill backwards to Tommy Freeman who slung it across for Ollie Lawrence who swatted Ramos away before dotting down under the sticks, making it 7-7 at the break.

Fin Smith’s second-half involvements v France in the 2025 Six Nations

The benefit of having two fly-halves was clear to see when Smith chose to pass onto Marcus for him to clear just inside France’s ten-metre line early in the second half. Factor in Henry Slade’s left boot and England had a plethora of kicking options which is always handy.

Fin Smith and Tommy Freeman combined excellently against France (Getty Images)

After Ramos booted France into a 13-7 lead, Smith’s pinpoint restart enabled Tommy Freeman to gather and got England going in enemy territory.

The two dovetailed even more perfectly moments later when Smith’s cross-field bomb in the French 22 was met by a rampaging Freeman who gathered and finished with aplomb despite the presence of multiple would-be tacklers.

After that score, Smith started to dictate the play more, fizzing it early onto onrushing team-mates. Another left-footed dribble through the line forced a knock-on. His kicking to touch also came to the fore, a lovely strike took England up to the five-metre from a penalty in the 70th minute.

After Marcus Smith wavered from the tee, Fin Smith took over the kicking duties after Fin Baxter’s try and duly kicked England into a 19-18 lead with eight minutes to play.

Smith delivered another excellent hanging kick-off and got replacement Elliot Daly into the action with a nice pass off his right hand.

With England six points down and searching for a converted try to win, Smith delivered a lovely delayed ball to Daly in the France 22 and the 32-year-old raced over to score.The conversion was simple for Smith but he did well to avoid any chance of a charge-down from close range.

France still had time to restart but England smothered the ball and who else but Fin Smith had the final say, booting the ball off and raising his arm aloft to toast a magnificent victory to crown a fantastic first start in the white shirt.

Things we learned from Fin Smith’s Player of the Match performance v France

Steve Borthwick was quick to highlight the cohesion that Smith brought in tandem with his club-mate Alex Mitchell at scrum-half. The deep understanding between two players who are so used to playing with each other at Franklin’s Gardens definitely seemed to add an extra sense of calm and composure.

Steve Borthwick praised the cohesion between Saints half-backs Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith (Getty Images)

Smith showed he more than has what it takes to succeed at this level. Never flustered, firm in defence and able to fire a killer pass or pinpoint kick seemingly on command – it will be hard for Marcus Smith to wrestle the No 10 shirt back on today’s evidence.

While England will be understandably delighted with the result, the victory might not be the glorious vindication of the Smith-Smith axis that it seems on paper. Marcus Smith looked a little lost at times and erred off the tee at a crucial period deep in the second half.

Fin Smith embraces head coach Steve Borthwick (Getty Images)

Overall, it’s not a stretch to say that this could be the start of the Fin Smith era. At only 22, England could build a side around him for a decade. He plays with a maturity beyond his years and has the key ingredient of all world-class backs: it always appears that he has time on the ball.