THE FINISHED ARTICLE

Northampton Saints' FIN SMITH established himself as England's first-choice fly-half in the Six Nations. So what next?

- JOSH GRAHAM

FIN SMITH is a student of our game. He’s mad for it, a self-confessed rugby nause. As a teenager, he'd 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.

“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, 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 be out playing in the garden the whole day.”

Smith credits his ability to punch above his weight in the defensive line to those backyard encounters. So what about Angus and the second part of his dad'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 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 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.”