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According to rugby specialists, Fin Smith has shown that he merits the starting position as England's fly-half versus the All Blacks on Saturday.

Fin Smith produced without doubt the best defensive performance we have seen from an England fly-half in several years.

His courageous approach through regularly completing his tackles against an aggressive Fijian team stood out remarkably.

His tactical control proved exceptional - he demonstrated an excellent balance of skill and control, while executing some strong choices when things didn't proceed as expected during the opening period.

Tackling Prowess and Strategic Command

His ability to calm the team strategically while making big calls is something he has truly mastered.

From my perspective, the young fly-half represents England's primary fly-half and he should start against New Zealand this weekend.

I think the manager Steve Borthwick views it that way as well, because Fin has proven he can perform during important Test matches.

Team Selection and Competition

The experienced fly-half started the previous weekend against Australia due to captaincy reasons, and part of that choice aimed at ensuring consistency and reward his performance from the tour of Argentina.

But England's performance against Fiji was a significant improvement compared to the display against Australia.

Australia were defeated in Italy on Saturday, so we should avoid becoming too carried away about that victory, that could have been by a larger margin considering how off the pace Australia were.

The Fijian team, by contrast, proved significantly dangerous while offering a much more difficult test.

Future Prospects

Fin Smith is still only twenty-three - projecting forward 24 months, with Ford challenging him while providing backup, I think Fin will be in an excellent place in his career.

The Harlequins star must also be considered as an option at the right time and against suitable opponents.

He is developing in his career while beginning to establish himself, though he needs the freedom to demonstrate his distinctive attributes.

Substitute Influence

New Zealand introduced their impact player, who scored the match-winning try to beat the Scottish team, and that shows the importance of having players capable of creating a real impact as substitutes.

That kind of presence can be the difference separating victory the global tournament from failure.

The All Blacks substitute watches the game unfold while substituted and thinks about how he can make a difference upon entering.

His choices and error rate have improved substantially since his early career.

Role Discussion

If we can get Marcus as such type of impactful player, including him among substitutes could be valuable.

Nonetheless, currently I believe he is the answer in the number fifteen position, so that is a position remaining unclaimed.

The All Blacks will kick testing the English backfield, therefore it must to be impenetrable.

It is a position requiring transforming into a real strength, in defense and in terms offensive transitions threat.

Right now, I don't think Marcus is a full-back at the highest level.

I struggle to identify the benefit of playing him there.

I want the ball in his hands as much as possible, but I believe this should occur among starters, particularly during the last quarter.

Natural Instincts

There are obviously numerous similarities between Ford with Smith.

Fin has the capacity executing the correct decisions during tense moments - his natural reactions represent traits you can really coach.

I remember when he got possession at one stage just inside his territory appearing like it could be should they swung it wide.

But in those milliseconds he thought they needed to turn Fiji round as we are up on the scoreboard, so he kicked it to pin the opponents applying the screw.

This represents the type of playmaking securing championships and wins World Cups.

All-round Ability

He additionally possesses that calmness under pressure to organise teammates around him, and the understanding that he mustn't constantly serve to be the first option.

I hope to witness him given the opportunity demonstrating this at elite standards soon, just as we have seen George Ford do, especially at club level repeatedly and week out.

During the South American tour, Ford similarly excelled during challenging situations, previously one might suggest there have been times where he didn't fully delivered during extremely tense matches.

I believe England possesses playmaking options who can do the role, but with Fin's defensive work combined with additional qualities, establishes him as the more complete all-round performer.

Defensive System

It also means there's no need to adjust your defensive system while fielding an assertive player in the fly-half channel, instead of an individual being somewhat reserved.

One might make a strong case favoring Ford beginning with Smith coming off substitution.

Numerous factors occurring privately, but whichever way the management choose to proceed, this will present the opponents problems.

That has not always been the narrative facing New Zealand, where the focus concentrated solely on selecting the optimal individual.

On this occasion, either playmaker selected will pressure the All Blacks under real pressure.

Smith's capacity selecting optimal kicks and execute enabling possible territorial gains might relieve all the stress away from England.