Smith adopts army breathing technique to improve his goal kicking

Marcus Smith has adopted a military breathing technique to keep a lid on his anger - and sought advice from Jonny Wilkinson - after his goal-kicking woes on England duty in the summer.

- Gerard Meagher

Smith missed three crucial kicks when England narrowly missed out on a first win in New Zealand in 21 years in July's first Test in Dunedin, ultimately losing 16-15, and has spoken candidly about how tough that was to digest.

The 25-year-old found his radar in the second Test in Auckland but England let a winning position slip again in a 24-17 defeat, meaning they head into next month's autumn Tests against the All Blacks, Australia, South Africa and Japan with a meagre 50% winning record in 2024.

Smith is to remain in the No 10 jersey with George Ford recovering from a thigh injury and Steve Borthwick favouring continuity as he puts the squad through their paces at a warm-weather training camp in Girona this week. The Harlequins fly-half revealed the lengths he has gone to in order to improve his accuracy from the tee.

“Going into that week [in Dunedin], I was probably overthinking it,” said Smith. “I don't think I kicked that well towards the back end of last season, I felt I was a bit rushed, a bit tight on the ball.