Head boy who can be class act for England
Fin Smith is the straight-A student doing an economics degree who can enrich his team’s attack and light up the Six Nations
‘Fin was a late bloomer. He wasn’t a Jonah Lomu-type’
Fin SMiTH was head boy and a straight-a student at Warwick School with a talent for tennis, so he could have taken any number of different avenues in life.
but it soon became apparent rugby was the right path for the 21-year- old, whose sporting journey is set to continue with a first senior England cap against italy on Saturday.
The northampton fly-half has had a season to remember with the Saints, who are top of the Premiership and into the last 16 of the Champions Cup thanks to a 10-match winning run. it has catapulted Smith into the position of being likely to make a Test debut off the bench for Steve borthwick’s side in the opening round of the Six nations in rome.
‘Fin’s brother angus told me there was a good chance he was going to come to the school and he was a very promising tennis player,’ Tom Pierce, Smith’s first XV rugby coach at Warwick, tells Mail Sport. ‘i also coached tennis so was very excited to hear that.
‘Fin joined in year seven. He was a tennis player but also played a bit of football and had played rugby for Shipston rugby Club.
‘He was very, very competitive from day one. He had a brilliant attitude with sport and a calm and composed nature.
‘Physically, he was quite a late developer. Probably up to under 16s he wasn’t quite there but his skillset was outstanding, particularly his catch-pass ability under pressure. There were two boys his age at Warwick who were called up to England under 17s ahead of him.
‘Fin was a bit of a late bloomer. He wasn’t a Jonah Lomu-type player at under 12s. He had to work really hard to get to where he’s got to.’
Smith has certainly done that. He was at the heart of a golden period of rugby success at Warwick and his talent earned him a place at Worcester Warriors.
a keen aston Villa fan currently doing an economics degree at the Open university alongside his rugby, Smith came through the ranks at Sixways and played under 20 rugby for England. He did his homework while traveling to Worcester training.
He had already agreed to join northampton from Worcester in 2022 as a replacement for dan biggar, but the Warriors’ financial demise meant he became a Saint sooner than expected. Smith was devastated by his boyhood club’s descent into administration.
‘ Fin was a part of a lot of successful sides at Warwick,’ Pierce says. ‘His age group won the under 13 national cup and lost in the final at under 15 level. as an under 16, he played in our first team who won the cup at Twickenham.
‘as an under 17 he played there again and at under 18, just as Covid hit, he put in an amazing performance to beat northampton School for boys in the semi- final to take us to Twickenham again. it’s quite amazing Fin was part of Warwick sides at Twickenham for six or seven years in a row.
‘ He was such good fun at school. He had a cheeky persona but at the same time was really respectful and not at all arrogant. He listened well. He had a really nice balance.
‘in terms of Fin’s memorable moments it is definitely that semi-final against northampton, where he slotted a kick from 60 metres and single-handedly got us back into the game.
‘ i’ll never forget that game because he was so influential. That was in February 2020 so the only shame was we lost that final to Covid and Fin did not get the chance to play at Twickenham again.’
it seems Smith has unfinished business at the home of English rugby. He will surely play there plenty more times in the years to come.
it is ironic that he was a late bloomer physically. That’s because this season — his breakthrough year — he has put on six kilograms and has the best tackle completion rate and the most dominant hits of any Premiership no 10.
‘i often joke with Fin because he says i make it sound like he wasn’t much good,’ Pierce adds.
‘From a young age he worked really hard on his tackle technique which is brilliant now. He rarely gets injured.
‘He’s very brave and i think that’s what really sets him apart from the other no 10s in the Premiership.’
England head coach borthwick has been seriously impressed by Smith’s all-round game. He can attack and kick well but his defensive attributes give him a point of difference.
‘Some of the physical elements of his game are very good,’ says northampton director of rugby Phil dowson. ‘He puts his head where it hurts. He’s brave.’
Smith earned the respect of biggar when, as part of a Worcester side beaten heavily by the Welshman’s Saints, he took a number of heavy blows but never shirked contact.
Eligible for Scotland through his grandfather Tom Elliot, who wore the thistle and also represented the british and irish Lions, Smith was a long-term target for Gregor Townsend.
He lives with northampton and England team-mate Tom Pearson and is close friends with another Saints and England man in Tommy Freeman.
England — for whom he won a junior Six nations grand slam — was always his priority.
Smith has benefited from Owen Farrell’s decision to step away from international rugby and Marcus Smith’s calf injury, but there can be no doubt he is ready for the Test stage.
His brilliant performance in northampton’s European win at Munster last month showed that to be the case.
George Ford is set to start at no 10 against italy with Smith on the bench, but borthwick is an admirer of the younger man and looks poised to reward his club form.
He must be thankful Smith put down the tennis racket and picked up a rugby ball at Warwick. an expected England debut in rome would prove that was entirely the correct decision.