Below, we will look at FIVE younger brothers who hope to emulate their older siblings who won England caps.
#1. Luc Smith, brother of Marcus
- Age: 20
- Current club: Rosslyn Park
- Position: Centre/Fly-half
The exciting back is thought to be attracting interest from a number of Premiership clubs but is not getting ahead of himself.
Luc is also very much a student of the game himself: “I have always watched rugby from a young age with my older brother and my younger brother. Even when we were younger, you are not actively trying to analyse it, but you are subconsciously taking all that info in so it gives you that feel for the game which I think I have benefitted from.
“Now that I am playing in National One, I feel like I need to get my game management up to scratch. At school rugby, that sort of management is not as important. Watching Premiership games now, I try to dissect what the fly-halves are thinking, how they are sort of managing the game and trying to think, two, three, four phases ahead. I am trying to add that into my game more and more.”
Smith cites Leicester Tigers’ George Ford and Scotland star Finn Russell as two examples of different fly-halves he analyses, but picking the brains of his older brother is an invaluable resource for the Rosslyn Park No.10.
“We still do kicking sessions together when he comes home or if I can get up to where he lives, so we still do those sessions quite frequently,” Smith adds. “He’s always open to giving me all the tips that he has learnt. He is obviously working with some of the best coaches and players so he passes on that fine detail to me which helps a lot.
“More generally, after training and after games, I call him and ask him any questions I may have so that might be things which I think I can improve on or things which he thinks I can improve on.
“We sort of have an open dialogue and we always bounce ideas off each other. I am giving him feedback as well with his games! We are there to help each other.”
DID YOU KNOW? He is a third Year Civil and Environmental Engineering
student at Imperial College London