Smith: Saints supporters will be vital for us this weekend

Despite only being aged 22, it does not appear that there is a lot that Northampton Saints fly-half Fin Smith has not already learned about rugby at the highest level.

Smith’s upward trajectory has been steep since his arrival at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens following the sad demise of Worcester Warriors two-and-a-half years ago.

Displaying a maturity well beyond his years, he has frequently turned out to be a match-winner for Saints – just ask the likes of Munster or Bath.

He also has a Gallagher Premiership title under his belt and he played a key role in the men in Black, Green and Gold’s return to prominence at continental level last season during the run to the semi-finals of the Investec Champions Cup.

Smith was long talked about as a player that would surely look at home in an England shirt, with the only surprise that it took as long as this year’s Six Nations for him to get the chance to prove it.

Having dazzled for the Red Rose in rugby’s oldest international championship, Smith returned to Saints for the run-in to the season, but he now admits he wasn’t prepared for how tough a transition going back his Club would be.

He said: “People talk all the time about it being different at Test level and you sort of go ‘what are they on about?’

“The mental stress of a big campaign like that, the first one I’ve probably done as well, it took its toll on me more than I probably appreciated as well.

“The physical stress as well, everyone had weeks off through the season or prior to that whereas I’d pretty much played the whole way through, so my body was struggling a little bit.

“I probably didn’t give the best account of myself (against Leicester) so I was really glad to have the following week off and press the reset button.

“It’s definitely something that in campaigns in the future I’ll pay a lot more respect to and understand that transition from international to Club isn’t just going to be a seamless one, and I have to put a little bit of attention and effort into making sure it happens naturally.”

Following that night against Leicester Tigers everyone would rather forget ever happened, Smith was rested for the trip to Sale Sharks.

There may have some guilt at the sudden injury crisis in his position among Saints’ squad occurring while he was on the beach, but the chance to recharge brought rewards the following week.

Smith, along with Saints as a whole, was back to his best for last Friday’s 46-24 victory over Clermont Auvergne that put them into the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup, and a reunion with Castres Olympique.

Smith said: “It felt like a lot more like we had a licence to go and play our game.

“We were looking for opportunities, rather than being a little bit worried about consequences, which I felt was a big step forward for us.

“There’s a lot to be said about what happened against Leicester, but the reality is we hadn’t had our core group of players training together for a long, long time.

“We had two good weeks of training leading up to Clermont, that was the reason why I think we manged to perform how we want to.”

Smith is the first to admit Saints have struggled for consistency this season, particularly in the Premiership, but is hoping Saturday evening’s tie against Castres is the start of them finally stringing performances together when it matters most.

He said: “It’s a massive one. In what has been a disappointing season for us all, if we can get to a European semi-final hopefully it will put a bit of a positive light on it and we feel we can keep pushing on from there.