Smith has always presented himself as a young man with an old head on his shoulders but until recently some inner demons were holding him back.
Working with renowned sports psychologist Dr Andrea Furst has helped to put those issues to bed and his greater self-awareness now enables him to embrace whatever comes his way, whether that is winning his second cap for England up at Murrayfield in the cauldron of the Calcutta Cup or facing an equally hostile environment at Thomond Park in the pool stages of the Champions Cup.
The Warwick-born playmaker cites the test of character that Northampton went through to beat Munster with 14 men as a defining moment in his personal growth.
“It’s easy to go into your shell, and it is something that a couple of years ago I probably would have been pretty bad at. But I have worked pretty hard at that – the mental side of the game – and parking things once they are gone.
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