I think we need to stick with him. It is clear he has talent and even if his form did tail off at the end of last season, that’s no different to the rest of the squad. As others have also said, playing effectively behind a beaten pack takes experience and nous that no 18/19 year old is likely to have.
We promoted him too quickly due to a combination of bad planning and misfortune. We had ample time to find a replacement for Evans, let our second and third choices (Botica and Jackson) go and then signed Catrakilis who was unfortunate to pick up a serious injury very quickly. We threw him in at the deep-end and for the most part, he swam very nicely.
I don’t think we should be relying on him (I would prefer to alternate him with a fit Catrakilis), but I find this talk of Lang starting ahead of him very strange. Lang is promising enough but he hasn’t once hit the level of performance Smith has at his best. He’s bound to be inconsistent at this stage in his career, but let’s nurture him rather than drop him for a couple of sub-par performances.