SMITH HAS AIR OF CONFIDENCE

Breathing technique lifts kicking blues

- Adam Hathaway

MARCUS SMITH got rid of his boots after a disaster in Dunedin this summer but has rediscovered his kicking feet after learning to take a breath.

The fly-half was gutted - and felt he had let his England team-mates down in this summer's first Test against New Zealand-after he missed three kicks, worth eight points, in a 16-15 loss.

A week later in Auckland, Smith booted three from three but Steve Borthwick's side still slipped to a 24-17 defeat to leave them kicking themselves on the way home.

By then Smith had changed his tee, and his boots, and started using an army technique to moderate his breathing and help him relax over the ball.