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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Joshua Lees

Will Greenwood insists England must make Owen Farrell and Marcus Smith decision

Will Greenwood has insisted England must be ruthless in their selection decision regarding Owen Farrell and Marcus Smith, after Eddie Jones' team fell to a shock 30-29 defeat to Argentina on Sunday.

England kicked off their Autumn fixtures in what was expected to be relatively straightforward clash against the Argentines on Sunday at Twickenham.

However it was far from that, as the visiting side picked up a narrow 30-29 victory to secure their first win at Twickenham since 2006. There have been a number of questions asked about England head coach Jones and the team in the wake of the defeat.

And that includes from former man Greenwood, who believes two of Jones' star men in Farrell and Smith can't play together in the same midfield.

Writing for the Telegraph , the 2003 World Cup winner said: "People will say I contradicted myself in the summer over Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell in midfield. I said I didn't think they could play together and then they played great the next week. It's a really tough decision for Eddie Jones to think about, because they are both No 10s...

"I am not saying that it cannot work, and there are times when it has brilliantly, like in the third Test against Australia. But if you are asking me what I would do, I would not play them in the same midfield.

Marcus Smith struggled to make an impact on Saturday (Alex Davidson - RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

"I would have Manu Tuilagi at 12 and Henry Slade at 13. That way you can keep Manu close to the ball, but equally the two of them are interchangeable." England headed in at the break with the advantage, with a try from Joe Cokanasiga and penalties from Farrell giving them a 16-12 lead at the mid-way point.

It was the second half in which England's downfall began, and Williams put this down to their 'lack of discipline'. He went on: "The discipline went in the second half. There were three of four penalties which seemed totally unnecessary. I'm picking out the Luke Cowan-Dickie offence late on.

Do you think Owen Farrell and Marcus Smith can play in the same team? Let us know in the comments section.

Owen Farrell has been integral to England in recent years (Getty Images)

"Even though the sun came out it was still sodden out there. England tried to play, and it came back and hurt them. Even though it was wet, I feel like other teams are much more comfortable offloading and keep the ball moving in the tight spaces.

"Whereas England still look a big mighty team but less comfortable on the ball as a group. You're not going to change that overnight." Jones' team will look to put last weekend's defeat behind them when they return to action this Saturday, hosting Japan at Twickenham.

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