With his flowing black hair and dashing good looks, Marcus Smith is perhaps one of the most recognisable faces in world rugby.
Yet beneath the 26-year-old’s youthful and glowing exterior lies a rugged determination which has acted as the foundation of his rapid rise to the upper echelons of the sport.
Having made his professional debut aged just 18 years and 200 days for Harlequins – the second youngest fly-half in Premiership history – Smith is now a two-time Lions tourist and begins the Tour as the most recent man to pull on the iconic red jersey.
It has been quite the journey since growing up in the city of Makati on the outskirts of Manila, and the next chapter of his story is set to be written Down Under this summer.
Care-free beginnings
Born to Suzanna and Jeremy, his Filipino mother and British father, in February 1999, Smith spent the first eight years of his life in the Philippines.
The south-east Asian nation isn’t known for its love of rugby but it was through time spent with his two brothers that Smith first developed his passion for the sport.
“We spent hours down at Manila Nomads Sports Club, watching our dad play rugby, throwing a ball around with our mates,” he told The Mail on Sunday.
“As you drive in, there’s palm trees in the car park. There were little tin huts by one of the pitches, where the homeless kids lived. They’d be right up against the hoardings to watch the games.
“Along with one of his good mates, our dad set up a team for us. The homeless kids would come along and play. They spoke Tagalog, which I didn’t really understand back then. But the minute we started throwing balls around with them, the smiles on their faces were unbelievable. I loved it. It was a good time to be alive.”
First Lions memories
Wherever Smith has lived, he has always found a way to keep rugby a central part of his life and that was no different when he and his family moved to Singapore in 2007 due to his father’s work in commercial real estate.
At Centaurs Rugby Club, Smith’s passion for the game continued to burn brightly while also honing his skills.
Due to the time zone he was living in, he recalled how Super Rugby was often on the TV with the likes of Dan Carter and Carlos Spencer “playing with a smile on their face, backing themselves, trying crosskicks, throwing balls between their legs”.
Then, in 2009, Smith got his first introduction to The Lions when he watched the Tour to South Africa.
The then 10-year-old instantly fell in love with what he was seeing and subsequently set himself the goal of becoming one of the men he was glued to the TV screen watching.
“I remember being excited about how loud the stadiums were and the sea of red of fans who travelled to South Africa,” he told The Guardian.
“Obviously the series outcome was disappointing, but it was a massive spectacle, and it made me really desperate to get on one in the future.”
Dreams becoming a reality
After Singapore, the next stop on Smith’s rugby voyage was the UK, moving there aged 13.
He received a sports scholarship to attend Brighton College where he skippered the first XV side and earned a place on Harlequins’ Elite Player Development Group (EPDG).
After less than a year, Smith was then promoted into the full-time academy, and in September 2017, he made his professional Quins bow against London Irish.
Smith’s career has since gone from strength to strength and he came of age in the 2020/21 campaign.
Premiership success was achieved at Twickenham as Quins beat Exeter Chiefs 40-38 in a thriller, Smith contributing four conversions in the showpiece after finishing the campaign as the league’s top points scorer with 286, nearly 100 more than anyone else.
He made his international debut for England eight days later against the USA at the same venue before getting a call the following week which saw him keep a promise he made to his 10-year-old self.
Whilst he was playing against Canada in what was his second cap for England, Warren Gatland announced that Smith had been called up to the Lions squad for the Tour of South Africa as injury cover for Finn Russell.
However, he didn’t find out about the news until his playing duties were complete.
“I can’t believe it,” Smith said to Channel 4 post-match. “When Hilly (England team manager Richard Hill) called me into the tunnel to tell me I’d been called up I was shaking. It’s amazing – I’m still shaking now.
“I don’t think it will sink in until I get back from the Lions tour. I’ll have to pinch myself on the plane. It’s a dream come true, the pinnacle for any young England player.
“It’s always been the ambition to play at the highest level. It is every kid’s dream to play in a Lions Test series in South Africa.
Although Smith did not feature during a Test match, he did make his Lions debut against Stormers, finishing with a 100% conversion rate as Gatland’s outfit won 49-3, becoming Lion #855.
Keeping things simple
Smith’s eight years in the professional game have seen him build up a vast array of experience when it comes to dealing with the pressures both on and off the rugby field.
And one tactic Smith resorts to is remembering what it was like to play earlier in his career, when the laser-like focus of the media was not directed at him.
“The expectation and scrutiny is much greater when you play international rugby,” he told GQ.
“But for me, I try and see it like I'm playing for Brighton College, try and keep a smile on my face, keep my enjoyment up, because that's when I feel my best.
“To do that, it's massively important get away from rugby. I've become really interested in golf at the minute – it’s a couple of hours out in the sun. I'll do a bit of gaming, and I love spending time with my family and my girlfriend. I'm very lucky to have them around me.”
