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According to rugby specialists, the young playmaker has shown that he merits the first-choice spot as England's fly-half against New Zealand on Saturday.

The Northampton Saints star delivered arguably the best defensive display observed by an English fly-half for quite some time.

His courageous approach through regularly completing his tackles versus a physical Fiji side was impressive.

His game management was also immense - he showed an excellent balance of finesse and control, while executing some strong decisions when things didn't proceed to plan in the first half.

Defensive Excellence Coupled with Tactical Command

His ability to settle the team tactically while making important decisions represents an aspect he has really nailed.

From my perspective, the young fly-half is England's number one fly-half and deserves to start against New Zealand next week.

I think head coach the England coach sees it that way too, because Fin has demonstrated his capability in big Test matches.

Squad Decisions and Competition

The experienced fly-half started the previous weekend against Australia for leadership reasons, with some aspect of that decision was to provide consistency while acknowledging his performance from the tour to South America.

But England's performance against Fiji represented a marked improvement compared to the display against Australia.

Australia were defeated in Italy last weekend, so we should not get too carried away with that win, that could have been more comprehensive given how off the pace the Australians performed.

Fiji, by contrast, were much more threatening and presented a far tougher challenge.

Long-term Potential

Fin Smith remains just twenty-three - looking ahead 24 months, with Ford pushing him while providing support, I believe Smith will find himself in a very strong place as a player.

Marcus Smith also has to be considered as an option at the right time and against suitable opponents.

He is developing in his career while beginning to find his feet, though he requires liberty to demonstrate his distinctive qualities.

Bench Impact

New Zealand introduced Damian McKenzie, who registered the match-winning score to beat Scotland, and that shows the significance of possessing players capable of creating genuine influence from the bench.

That kind of player can be the deciding factor separating victory the global tournament or not.

McKenzie watches the match unfold from the bench and thinks regarding ways to create an impact upon entering.

His decision-making and mistake frequency have enhanced significantly from his initial career.

Positional Debate

Should we develop Smith to be such type influential performer, then having him among substitutes could be valuable.

Nonetheless, currently I don't think he is the answer at full-back, making it a position that is still up for grabs.

The All Blacks will kick testing the English backfield, so it has remain watertight.

It is a position that needs transforming into a genuine asset, both defensively while regarding offensive transitions danger.

Right now, I believe Marcus is a full-back at the highest level.

I find it difficult to identify the benefit of playing him in that position.

I prefer possession in his hands as much as possible, though I think that should be among starters, especially in the final 20 minutes.

Innate Qualities

Clearly there exist a lot of parallels comparing Ford with Smith.

Smith possesses the ability executing the correct choices under pressure - his natural reactions are not something you can really coach.

I remember when he got the ball at one stage within his own half appearing that opportunity existed on if they swung it wide.

However during these milliseconds he thought the team required to turn Fiji round as we are up on the scoreboard, therefore he punted to pressure the opponents and turn pressure.

This represents the type of fly-half play securing titles and wins World Cups.

All-round Ability

He also has that calmness during intensity to organise teammates around him, while recognizing that he doesn't constantly serve to be the first option.

I want to see him receiving the chance to show that at the highest level next week, just as we have seen George Ford do, particularly during club level week in consistently.

In Argentina, Ford similarly excelled during challenging circumstances, where historically one might suggest there have been times where he didn't fully delivered during extremely tense games.

I think England possesses two fly-halves capable of performing the job, though Smith's defence on top of additional qualities, establishes him as the more complete versatile performer.

Defensive System

It also means there's no need to modify the defensive structure while fielding an assertive player in the fly-half position, rather than someone who is somewhat passive.

You could also present compelling arguments favoring Ford beginning and Fin Smith entering from substitution.

There are so many factors that go on behind closed doors, but whichever way the coaches decide to go, this will present New Zealand difficulties.

That has not always been the situation facing New Zealand, where the focus was simply on selecting the optimal individual.

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

Fin's ability selecting optimal kicks and execute enabling possible 50-20 can take all the stress away from England.