{"id":8773,"date":"2026-03-04T01:40:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T20:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/fin-stole-my-fly-half-spot-atkinson-on-englands-new-10-12-combo\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T01:40:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T20:10:04","slug":"fin-stole-my-fly-half-spot-atkinson-on-englands-new-10-12-combo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/fin-stole-my-fly-half-spot-atkinson-on-englands-new-10-12-combo\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Fin stole my fly-half spot!&#8217; \u2013 Atkinson on England&#8217;s new 10-12 combo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/topics\/c8ep7j8w1xkt\">Mike Henson<\/a>,\u00a0BBC Sport rugby union news reporter\u00a0<!-- -->and<!-- -->\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/topics\/cez3n7dp82xt\">Sara Orchard<\/a>,\u00a0Rugby union commentator<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Published28 minutes ago<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#comments\">5 Comments<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>England centre Seb Atkinson says his teenage fly-half hopes were frustrated by Fin Smith, the man he will line up outside against Italy on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>The pair, both 23, have been drafted in as part of wholesale changes to a team that has lost two of its first three games in the Six Nations.<\/p>\n<p>Atkinson and Smith came through Worcester Warriors academy and briefly appeared in the first team together during the 2021-22 season.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;We started playing together when we were 13,&quot; <a href=\"\/sounds\/series\/p04q5p2n\">Atkinson told Rugby Union Weekly.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&quot;I was a fly-half at the time, which didn&#x27;t last long because Fin was better than me!<\/p>\n<p>&quot;I had to learn a few other skills, which pushed me out to 12.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;We went through the whole system together and I made my Premiership debut and my first Premiership start outside him, which was quite comforting.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>When Worcester went into administration in autumn 2022, both soon picked up new clubs with Atkinson heading to Gloucester and Smith signed by Northampton.<\/p>\n<p>Atkinson says their relationship remains strong despite no longer being in the same club dressing room &#8211; and it will be something he leans on when they come under pressure in Rome&#x27;s Stadio Olimpico.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;He&#x27;s easy to talk to, someone who I know I can ask questions to and pick his brains and also tell each other what our expectations are of each other,&quot; added Atkinson.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;You need to have those conversations before the game so that in the game you sort of know subconsciously what&#x27;s going to happen.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Just having that sort of that link and a bit of composure between the two of you is definitely a big thing, so hopefully that gives us a good opportunity.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Head coach Steve Borthwick admitted the shared history of his 10 and 12 was a factor in a selection that lacks established Test and club combinations, and added Atkinson has an under-rated all-round game.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;He is a really good distributor of the ball, he sees space and is able to get the ball to space,&quot; said Borthwick.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;As well as that, he has that carry threat and his running ability to cover ground is exceptional. He has multiple strengths.&quot;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/sport\/rugby-union\/articles\/cvg1pd983xdo\">\n<p>Smith, Atkinson and Murley start in England revamp<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Published2 hours ago<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/sport\/rugby-union\/live\/cly9yz36kg7t\">\n<p>Recap: England team to face Italy as Fin Smith starts plus Chris Jones Q&amp;A<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/sounds\/series\/p04q5p2n\">\n<p>Rugby Union Weekly<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>&#x27;I&#x27;d rather have the expectation than not&#x27;<\/h2>\n<p>England football manager Thomas Tuchel was the latest guest at the team&#x27;s training base, watching a session and talking to coaches and players about some of the differences between the sports and set-ups.<\/p>\n<p>Borthwick, whose side have floundered in defeats by Scotland and Ireland in the past two rounds of the Six Nations, said the pressure that comes with being an England coach is a constant.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;The expectation that comes with being involved with whichever England team it may be &#8211; I&#x27;d much rather be involved with a team that&#x27;s got expectation upon it,&quot; he added.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;We&#x27;re in a very fortunate position in that regard.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Whenever I chat to managers who are currently managing the Premier League or have managed in the Premier League, they understand the expectations and scrutiny that is upon them every week.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Understanding how they manage that, how the team navigates through some tricky spells and through a period where it&#x27;s gone really, really well, those are always good conversations to have.&quot;<\/p>\n<h2>Related topics<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/sport\/rugby-union\/teams\/northampton\">Northampton Saints<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/sport\/rugby-union\/teams\/england\">England Rugby Union<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/sport\/rugby-union\">Rugby Union<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>More on this story<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/sounds\/series\/p0kwktkp\">\n<p>Listen: Sport&#x27;s Strangest Crimes &#8211; Bloodgate<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/sounds\/brand\/p04q5p2n\">\n<p>Listen to the latest Rugby Union Weekly podcast<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#x27;Fin stole my fly-half spot!&#x27; \u2013 Atkinson on England&#x27;s new 10-12 comboImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Seb Atkinson (right) and Fin Smith in action in a Worcester Warriors pre-se&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":8774,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-decor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}