Fin Smith has a closer connection than most to The British & Irish Lions but after spending his life dreaming of continuing a family tradition, his focus now is only on the present.
The Northampton Saints fly-half had the honour of scoring the first points for the 2025 British & Irish Lions, slotting a penalty early on against Argentina in Dublin last Friday.
But he was not able to help the Lions overcome Los Pumas in the 1888 Cup encounter, eventually beaten 28-24 in their opening fixture.
And for Smith, who has followed in the footsteps of his grandfather Tom Elliot in representing the Lions, the priority now is to help the team hit the ground running in Australia.
He said: “It was probably not how I saw my first Lions cap going.
“There is a lot to get better at. We were not where we need to be, which is the main thing.
“The main thing is how quickly we can respond and how quickly we can stop feeling sorry for ourselves. Andy (Farrell) has already said that – no moping.
“We need to get back on the training pitch and get better as quickly as possible.
“We need to get back on the horse straight away and have conversations that are going to make us better. That's definitely the aim.”
The Lions have now landed in Perth and will take on the Western Force at Optus Stadium next Saturday.
That will give some players an opportunity to stake their claim for a Test spot, with Smith and Northampton Saints teammates Tommy Freeman, Alex Mitchell and Henry Pollock having all been involved in the opener against Argentina.
And Smith admitted that his early experiences of the Lions have been everything he could have hoped for, 70 years after his grandfather, a prop for Scotland, travelled to South Africa with the Lions.
Smith added: “It’s been everything I thought it was going to be and more, the scale of it, really does feel like the pinnacle, day-to-day. Around the place it feels incredibly special, it’s everything I would have imagined and more.
“We (the Saints players) all stood together as Argentina were singing their anthem. We had the odd look in the changing room as well, it’s nice to have them here.”
