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Marcus Smith insists England can take comfort in the career trajectories of Usain Bolt and Dan Carter as they come to terms with another near-miss against New Zealand.
George Ford, Smith’s replacement at fly-half, missed last-gasp penalty and drop-goal attempts as the All Blacks left Allianz Stadium on Saturday with a 24-22 victory.
Including their two Tests in July, England have lost three successive matches to New Zealand by a combined total of 10 points, continuing their trend of falling to narrow defeats against top-four opposition.
As they turn attention to Saturday’s appointment with Australia, Smith looks to sprint great Bolt and All Blacks star Carter as examples of how it can take time to reach the pinnacle of a sport.
“It’s not a coincidence that people win towards the end. Dan Carter played his first World Cup final at 33, sometimes it’s life,” Smith said.
“Usain Bolt, in his first Olympics (2004), didn’t get out of the group stages. Now everyone admires him as a legend.
“International rugby is very different to the Premiership and the experiences we’re experiencing now are very painful, but we’ll be better for them.
“Keep the faith. We’ve fallen again on the wrong side of the result, but we’ll learn from it 100 per cent.
“These experiences will tighten us as a group and it will be worth it in the long run. We will be better for it.”
Smith and Ford were at the centre of the most contentious moment of the afternoon in the 62nd minute when a fly-half who was hitting all the right notes was replaced by one who had not played in over a month because of a quad injury.
Ford has been and will continue to be a vital presence for England, but his missed tackle for Mark Tele’a’s 75th-minute try, as well as a wayward drop-goal and penalty that struck the right post, were evidence of a player in need of more game time before being thrust into such a decisive stage of a Test.
Smith has no issue with the substitution, stating that it was the “coaches’ decision and I’m right behind whatever decision they make”.
He also gives Ford his full support, not least because the Sale veteran was hardly given the ideal platform from which to launch his drop-goal.
“Sometimes that’s the life of a kicker, we’ve all experienced that. It’s part and parcel of the job,” Smith said.
“I’ve learned so much off George. He’s an unbelievable kicker, both off the tee and out of hand. It was one of those days.
“It’s nothing to do with him why we didn’t win the game. It’s a team effort. Every kicker in the world has experienced that.
“As kickers we always practise the drop-goal, but it’s very different when you’re out there in front of 80,000 people and the All Blacks shouting ‘Drop-goal! Drop-goal!’.
“It’s an extremely tough kick. Fordy is a master of that drop-goal kick. We go through that scenario week-in, week-out. We practise it as kickers every single day but sometimes it doesn’t go for you. We’re all human and people miss.”
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