By NEALE HARVEY
ENGLAND U20s supremo Steve Bates insists Marcus Smith’s senior World Cup callup justifies the gifted playmaker’s controversial withdrawal from the Junior World Cup in Argentina.
Head coach Bates also claims that poor discipline rather than travelling late to the tournament was responsible for their opening day defeat to Ireland – a loss that ultimately meant England failed to reach the semi-finals of the competition for the first time since 2012.
After initially being named in the squad, Smith’s subsequent exclusion in favour of playing ...