England young gun wants to 'beat Jonny'
NEWS: Harlequins flyhalf Marcus Smith became the second-youngest player to reach 500 Premiership points during his display against London Irish on Wednesday.
Smithโs second try took him past the landmark and helped his side to a 38-15 win at Twickenham Stoop, with the playmaker responsible for 16 of those points.
Only Jonny Wilkinson has reached 500 points at a younger age than Harlequins ace Smith, who made his debut for the club in 2017.
At 21 years and 207 days old, Smith has reached the landmark quicker than names including George Ford, Charlie Hodgson, Owen Farrell and Olly Barkley.
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๐ค Points ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐.
๐ @02msmith career in numbers ๐ฒ https://t.co/JnbTZ7lEU1 #COYQ pic.twitter.com/9TR5x6vc5a
โ Harlequins ๐ (@Harlequins) September 10, 2020
Points machine Smith said: “Itโs an honour to play one game for Quins, let alone 75 or 80. Iโm proud every time I wear the jersey and I love playing here at the Stoop.
“To rack up 500 points in my first three years has been brilliant. Hopefully, I can beat Jonny to 1,000! Itโs a nice milestone to pass but Iโd like to go past 1,000.”
Harlequinsโ win moved them up to sixth place in the Premiership, but they wonโt make the play-offs as they trail fourth-place Wasps by 14 points with three games remaining.
“The forwards gave me the platform to score the two tries. Irish came at us in the first half as you would expect with a keen London rivalry.
“They tested our character and they were more aggressive than us. At half-time, we talked about being more physical and we showed some good character in the second half and put in a good shift.
“We have three games left plus a cup final at Sale. We did well against them here last time so we want to finish with some wins and build as a group.”
SIX YOUNGEST PLAYERS TO SCORE 500 PREMIERSHIP POINTS
1. 21 years 100 days โ Jonny Wilkinson
2. 21 years 207 days โ Marcus Smith
3. 21 years 279 days โ George Ford
4. 21 years 327 days โ Charlie Hodgson
4. 21 years 364 days โ Owen Farrell
6. 22 years 71 days โ Olly Barkley
