Fin Smith is a student of our game. He’s mad for it; a self-confessed rugby nause. 

As a teenager, he would wake up early on a Saturday to digest Super Rugby on Sky Sports and he watched on in awe when Dan Carter and Co appeared on the small screen.

Read more: How to watch Premiership Rugby wherever you are

“It was when Quade (Cooper) and (Will) Genia were at the Reds together,” he tells Rugby World. “The streets won’t forget; they were sick. That was still the time when the Crusaders were the guys. I used to love Israel Dagg, I thought he was unreal.”

Not bad people to learn off. This insatiable appetite for rugby was nurtured at home by dad Andrew and in tandem with elder brother Angus. 

“I grew up in a rugby-mad house. My dad is the biggest rugby fan ever, I don’t think there could have been a better job for his son to do. He showed me his CV when I was about to leave school and a bit at the bottom said ‘Family man, trying to breed two international rugby players for sons’ or something like that. My brother just needs to hurry up! Dad is rugby obsessed and my brother is more rugby obsessed than I am. I’ve been around it the whole time growing up; we’d just be out playing in the garden the whole day.”

Four players who can play. pic.twitter.com/ghJShCBjrm

— Rugby World (@Rugbyworldmag) April 29, 2025

Smith credits his ability to punch well above his weight in the defensive line from those backyard encounters. So what about Angus and the second part of dad Andrew’s project? 

“He’s a city boy now. He works as a strategic consultant. He is the definition of a city boy, who loves rugby. He plays in loads of like old boys’ sevens events and loves the social. Everyone calls him Goose. Loose Goose! He gets to most of my games and I’m super close to my brother, he’s a legend. He’s literally the definition of a London stereotype, saying ‘mate’ all the time, he goes to run clubs, loves pints and loves rugger. He’s funny, man.”

It feels almost churlish to ask a 23-year-old if he’d follow his brother into a serious profession after his rugby career, which hopefully has well over a decade left in it, but here we are. Smith romanticises the life of a city worker before giving himself a reality check. “I’d love to dress up in a suit every morning with my briefcase and walk into a bank or something. 

“The idea of that seems fun but I’m sure by the time I’ve stopped playing and I’m 40-odd it will be less attractive. 

“Unfortunately, the older I get, the more likely it is that I’m going to become a coach but I’m still in denial about that…”

He’s a very self-assured young man who speaks incredibly well and crucially with pause for thought. If all interviews were like this, our job would be a hell of a lot easier. 

🤌 The Boy Can Play.

Introducing Issue 310 of Rugby World with Fin Smith.

📖 Being a student of the game
🐐 Learning from Jonny Wilkinson
🦁 His family Lions connection
🤝 His connection with Marcus Smith pic.twitter.com/rcPa8CB7Y0

— Rugby World (@Rugbyworldmag) April 22, 2025

Part and parcel of a professional rugby player’s day now consists of watching footage. Tapes of training, analysis on opposition or even just watching back your own matches. 

It’s something that comes naturally to Smith. “I’ve had the piss taken out of me so much for saying I used to watch videos of Jonny Wilkinson when I was younger because everyone was like, ‘Yeah, course you did – you’re lying!’ 

“But genuinely we had a DVD that mum would put on and I’d sit and just watch that for ages. It was like Jonny’s best bits or something like that. I was rugby mad. I love it.”

That very same World Cup-winning Wilkinson is a regular visitor to Pennyhill Park and England camp. In the recent Six Nations, his kicking tutelage proved invaluable for Smith who finished the campaign with an 87.5% success rate off the tee.

“I met him for the first time in England camp,” Smith says. “You are starstruck but his character is one that within a minute, he makes you feel like you’re the most important guy on the planet and he’s just an average person. 

“You go from feeling that way to ‘Oh my God, it’s Jonny Wilkinson’ and back to feeling that way and back again. Even to this day, it’s mad because he comes in and puts in so much effort and time. The way he talks about how good you are – he really bigs you up. He’ll be doing a demo of a drop-goal or a kick to touch or something and he’ll put it on the money from like 50 out and you’re like ‘Okay… there’s levels to this!’ He’s such an unbelievable guy, I’ve loved working with him.

“This campaign is probably the first time I’ve really properly worked with him every day, listened to what he’s said and completely lived and breathed what he’s been coaching me. It’s probably the best I’ve felt kicking in my whole career. 

“The way he would coach, I would really try and dial into that even more. A lot of the time, you’d kick at posts and hope it goes over. 

“He’s all about not kicking at the posts all week in camp – just into a net, repping the same thing. What’s your body doing? How did that feel off the foot? Really honing into the skill rather than ‘Did it go over?’ 

“His thing is that you can do a terrible kick and it go over or you can do an amazing kick and the wind might make it miss. 

“Now back at the club, all the other kickers will be out practising dotted around the pitch and I’ll just be whacking it into the side of a building! It’s been unreal working with him. He’s the GOAT.

“We have a laugh and it’s chill. He’s an incredibly deep thinker is what I’d say. If you go to him with a problem or something you want to work on, he will really give it his whole energy to try and help you with that. He’s not an intense guy, I wouldn’t say. He’s an incredibly deep thinker and he’s got a cool demeanour to be around.”

An entire generation of English kids pretended to be Wilkinson at their local clubs and schools. With Owen Farrell’s decision to take a step back from the harsh scrutiny of international rugby and hop over the channel to Racing 92, the stage was set for Smith’s namesake Marcus to take the reins and be the long-term answer at No 10.

George Ford started all the 2024 Six Nations matches but Marcus Smith wore ten last summer in Japan and New Zealand, before starting all four Autumn Nations Series games. 

When a promising first-half display in Dublin went awry and England slipped to 27-22 defeat in this year’s Six Nations opener, Steve Borthwick had seen enough. 

The England coach handed Fin Smith his first start against France and it proved to be a masterstroke. The youngster, in tandem with Marcus who shifted to full-back, pulled the strings superbly.

His manipulation of the space and timing of the pass set Elliot Daly away for a try at the death and Smith’s simple conversion sealed a 26-25 win over les Bleus, who of course went on to win the title and had put over 50 points on the scoreboard on their previous visit to Twickenham. 

Smith was duly awarded the Man of the Match award, he tells us players aren’t fussed by those gongs but understandably was on cloud nine. “Club rugby is followed a lot and it’s big but I hadn’t grasped how different the spotlight is on international (rugby). 

“That France game was the biggest high point in my whole career. The buzz after that was unbelievable. Luckily, this Six Nations I experienced the highest highs and I’m sure international rugby gives you the lowest lows as well and I’m sure there will be a point where I’ll come across that. 

“I remember a few days after the France game, my phone was blowing up and I was like, ‘Wow, this is mad’ and you never want it to stop. It was cool but then you get onto the next one and crack on as usual but that was a pretty sick day, for sure. 

“It wasn’t until we had the next training session eight days afterwards that you were back into it. But I really felt like I needed that training session to level me out and give me something to go after again. I must admit it wasn’t something I thought I had to be aware of but it was definitely tough to park it and move on.”

Much was made of Smith’s Scottish connections ahead of the Calcutta Cup clash in round three. His parents Andrew and Judith met at the London Scottish clubhouse and late maternal grandfather Tom Elliot was a Scottish international prop in the 1950s. 

Smith insists there were no hard feelings when he struck a long-range penalty to end Scotland’s stranglehold on the fixture and secure England’s first Calcutta Cup win on home soil since 2017.

“The only thing was that my mum needed a reality check. She kept getting stopped and recognised in supermarkets and stuff. She was telling me the week after that she reckons she needs an agent now!

“The only thing that was a bit awkward was two of my cousins had come to the game – I got them all tickets. 

“They turned up in full Scotland kit and sat in the (England) friends and family seats and were screaming for Scotland the whole game. I’m not even sure they cheered for me once! “All the England families were sat there thinking, ‘Who are these lot?!’ So that was funny going to say hello to them afterwards. No frostiness from mum and dad luckily, they were all good!”

They were in fact probably happier than their son. Despite the result, Smith was not satisfied. A deluge of kicking had led to a chorus of boos around Allianz Stadium and many thought England had got away with one in a game where they were outscored by three tries to one.

“That was a big learning process for me (after Scotland). Although we’d won and I hit a 50-metre penalty to get the result over the line, I was pretty dark after that because I went out and played a way that I didn’t feel was particularly true to myself and I didn’t play to my strengths.”

England certainly looked to move the ball more in convincing and entertaining wins over Italy and Wales to round off the campaign. Scoring 11 tries in Cardiff was quite the statement, irrespective of the plight of the game across the bridge. 

“Personally, I was happy with the way the team grew. I felt like we tried to attack a lot more. After the Scotland game, it was sort of coach and player-led. I think we were all aware that the way we played against Scotland was not how we want to play or a way that was going to be successful for us moving forward. 

“That was within the players and I think the coaches felt the same way. There was no cult meeting where the players were like ‘Nah, we are sick of playing like this.’ Do you know what I mean? The coaches were all very on board with it as well.”

Before the tournament, Marcus Smith made no secret of his desire to be the main man at fly-half but ended up wearing No 15 as his Northampton namesake started the last four games on the bounce. 

We should also not forget George Ford, who is still only 32, and undoubtedly a master of his craft as he showed with a glittering cameo off the bench against Wales when winning his 99th cap. “He will be the best coach of all time I reckon,” Smith says casually.

It’s an embarrassment of riches for England. But is it awkward for the three protagonists involved who all ultimately want the same thing?

“I can’t imagine a position where it’s awkward, both of them are legends,” says Smith. “I met Marcus in camp in my first year at Northampton. I thought it would be interesting how he would act. I asked someone before I went in and they said he’s the nicest guy ever and he’s honestly so sound. I would genuinely say he’s one of my best mates when we go into camp. 

“All of us will be pretty open. The more you address it the better. We will come up to each other and be like have you heard anything about who’s playing? It’s almost a relief when the team is announced. The first week of camp is always the worst when nobody knows and everyone is on edge. Once you know you’re dropped – you just crack on!”

We’ve established that the Smiths get on like a house on fire off the pitch but how does view their on-field partnership after a good few hit-outs at the highest level?

“It’s sick. He takes a lot of pressure off around decision-making. He sees space for me a bit, like a second set of eyes. He helps with managing the game and kick strategy. 

“A lot of it is just mindset. We view how we want to play fairly similarly. Having someone that’s always encouraging the ball to move and playing to space, taking opportunities when they are on and having someone that’s fully invested in that (is great). 

“Everyone has different strengths. Someone like Ollie Lawrence is an unbelievable athlete and runner but he probably won’t give you quite the same information about where the space is as someone like Marcus will, you know? Having different strengths on the pitch at the same time is key.”

Smith’s biggest takeaway from the Six Nations was getting the chance to put the nagging feeling that he might not be good enough to excel for England to bed. 

“I really struggled mentally with never proving to myself that I felt like I could perform at international level. I’d come off the bench a load of times for ten or 15 minutes and felt like I’d not played that well. I had this blank in my mind a lot where I’d think, ‘Am I just a good club player or can I actually do it?’ 

“I was just desperate to start, almost not for the opportunity but to find out for myself can I do it at this level? That was the main thing I wanted to prove to myself that I can be a decent Test player. That was the main box I ticked so I was pleased. 

“I felt I went out there three or four times and did okay. I was fairly happy with what I put on the pitch. That would be the main thing; I was just buzzing for that.”

While his mum may be letting the fame get to her head, Smith is keeping his feet firmly planted on the floor. “I’m getting stopped a little bit more in the street but there’s no caps or fake moustaches or anything like that. I’m still incredibly immature. I’d like to think the lads would say that I’m not any different after a couple of games of rugby but we’ll see. 

“Overall, it was mad how quickly things change. I went from being third-choice ten to now I’m seeing all sorts online about potentially going on a Lions tour and all this stuff. It just goes to show how much timing and taking your opportunities is so important. I’ve loved the last few weeks, they’ve been mega.”

His grandad, who passed away in 1998, toured South Africa in 1955 and it how fitting it would be fitting if exactly 70 years on, Smith could follow suit in Australia this summer. At least there would be no split loyalties against the Wallabies.

“There’s photos of me wearing his old blazer from before when I knew what the Lions was so that was pretty cool. There’s photos of him all over my granny’s house in Lions kit and that’s mega.

“They recently did a thing where they gave out all the old Lions caps. It would be pretty cool to have a big frame in one of my rooms at home with his one and then maybe my one if that ever happens.”

It’s so easy to forget Smith is still so young having emerged as a Premiership-ready player at just 17 while still at Worcester – who he is very pleased to learn will be back in Champ action next year after their collapse fast-forwarded his move to Franklin’s Gardens in 2022.

He remembers watching Israel Folau and Will Genia in 2013 and getting his first look at the ‘Sea of Red’ with hordes of travelling fans down under. Smith got up at 6am to watch the Lions take on the All Blacks in 2017. 

A man cut from rugby cloth. Smith has a glint in his eye when we ask if he’s heard much from England peers about what a Lions tour entails.

“Everyone says it’s just great fun, such a different experience to everything else. You obviously go out there to win but it’s a proper old school rugby tour. It’s a proper laugh, everyone gets stuck in and you’re with people you don’t know so well so that element. 

“I think the whole thing, you’d probably end up making some weird connections with people you never expected to.” 

Like the props? “Stay away from them, they are weirdos, all of them.”

Smith has relished playing in an England backline stuffed full of Saints. “It’s good having people that see things the same and try and play a similar style. Especially in the week when you are talking about different ways to run moves or ways to attack edges. If we all have the same opinion, it makes it easier to push that onto the rest of the team.”

And while they have looked assured in Europe, Smith helped orchestrate a thumping 46-24 win at home over Clermont in the Champions Cup last 16 en route to the final against Bordeaux on Saturday, Northampton’s Premiership form has left a lot to be desired. 

So much so that they are out of the running for the play-offs and don’t have a chance of defending the title they won in Smith’s first full season at the club last year. 

Losing the likes of Alex Waller, Lewis Ludlam and Courtney Lawes was always going to be tough to stomach but few predicted such a slide down the table for Phil Dowson’s men.

“I wish I could put my finger on it. I think there’s a load of things. Obviously we lost some unbelievable players, particularly up front. We miss those guys a little bit. There’s a bit of luck that comes with it. We’ve had some injuries in positions that has left us in some tough spots without some of our best players on the pitch. Other teams get better. I can’t put my finger on it but all I know is it has been incredibly frustrating. We’ve been searching for answers and trying as hard as we can to find that.”

There’s a chance that Smith’s long term future lies elsewhere as with his contract entering its final 12 months and his value soaring as England’s current first-choice ten, Northampton will have to cough up an attractive offer to ward off a long line of interested suitors. 

“I feel very settled there. I enjoy it, I love Northampton. In terms of the future, you never know. There are so many things that have to align. Certainly I’d be happy to stay at Northampton. I love it as a place to live, I’ve got some of my best mates there. I think there’s a real good energy around the place. But we will have to see.”

Smith has bought his own house and has been living with flanker Tom Pearson. Typically after a captain’s run session, the Saints squad enjoy a Crunchie milkshake at NO.68 Coffee House in town before Smith and Pearson cook up their customary carbonara. They may have finetuned that recipe for the night before a game but are less aligned when it comes to cleanliness standards.

“I’m too scared to bollock him, he’d tell me to f*** off. So the house just becomes a tip! We have a stand-off often about who is going to do the bins or the washing up. No-one wins because it never gets done. 

“And the poor cleaner that we’ve got turns up and we are both too embarrassed to go downstairs and meet her because we know she’s got a tough job!”

Pearson is on the way out, so Smith is going solo as he’s not quite ready for girlfriend Gracie, who he has been with since school for over five years, to move in.

“I think it’s weird in rugby because you earn a bit more than most people your age, so that process (of moving in with partners) happens quite quickly especially because a lot of teams are in areas where there’s not loads going on and it’s more affordable so people move in earlier. 

“Luckily we are both pretty chill, I still feel so young for that. But we will give it a year and reevaluate.”

Gracie has secured a job at Selfridges and is set to move to the capital with Smith eager to maximise having a London base, having a steady partner helps prevent rugby from taking over all aspects of his life. 

“It’s key to have that balance. She doesn’t understand strike plays! But she’s got enough interest that I can rant and vent to her about stuff but she’s not chewing my ear off about certain stuff. It’s a nice balance, she’s cool.”

The pair recently spent a week in Dubai where Smith’s Sudoku obsession took over on the sunbed. “I back myself on Sudoku against anyone, I’m honestly obsessed with Sudoku. 

“I reckon I spent more time sat doing Sudokus than probably speaking to her. She absolutely hates Sudoku now!”

That relentless competitive edge probably stems from his time as a prolific junior tennis player. “For about a year I was maybe top eight in the UK. I’d stopped rugby at this point when I was about nine or ten. It sounds ridiculous, top eight aged nine, but it’s a thing I promise!”

Ideally, he fancies a crack at a tennis league but a dislike of doubles means Smith is more likely to be seen on the padel court these days as is the latest trend. 

He claims to have been into darts before Luke Littler mania took over and on the set of our shoot, we put his arrow skills to the test and were pleasantly surprised. A sharp-shooter on and off the field.

There was a point a few years ago that Smith, who is in his final year of an economics and maths degree at the Open University, looked on enviously as all his school mates lapped up everything uni life has to offer. 

“They were going out to parties and stuff every week. You’d go and visit and be like, ‘This is unbelievable’. I definitely don’t feel like I’m missing out now but there was a period of time where I was like ‘This looks so fun!’ But I’m lucky to be doing what I’m doing!”

He tells us most of them are still “travelling and pissing about in Bali or Vietnam”. Soon Smith will be on a plane to Australia and a reunion on that side of the world could be on the cards.

This article first appeared in the June 2025 issue of Rugby World magazine (310)

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