England’s Marcus Smith inspired by Olympic great Daley Thompson’s ‘eye-opening’ sprint sessions

England star Marcus Smith says sprint sessions with Olympic legend Daley Thompson helped him to adapt his game at the Rugby World Cup.

The Harlequins back has looked impressive so far in France, featuring at full-back rather than fly-half and scoring two tries in his only tournament start against Chile.

Smith has been working with two-time Olympic decathlon gold medallist Thompson on his speed to reach the levels of New Zealand players Richie Mo'unga and Beauden Barrett.

"For five or six years, I've been working hard on my speed," he said.

“Guys like Mo'unga and Barrett have the ability to score not just 10-metre tries but from 50 or 60 metres out. That's something that I've wanted to add to my game.

"Credit goes to people who I've worked with down in Brighton and Daley Thompson and the guys that I work with in America.

"They put a lot of effort into me and I've loved every minute training with those guys. It's been a joy and it has definitely opened my eyes to sprinting and speed work."

Smith scored twice in the 71-0 triumph over Chile in England’s Pool D game.

England cruised through the pool stages, finishing top of their section with a game to spare.

They beat Argentina and Japan before hammering Chile, then scraped through a dead rubber and final group game against Samoa 18-17 on Saturday.

Steve Borthwick’s team will face Fiji in the quarter-final, who handed England their most recent defeat in a warm-up game before the tournament.

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