Marcus Smith has adopted a military breathing technique to keep a lid on his anger – and sought advice from Jonny Wilkinson – after his goal-kicking woes on England duty in the summer.
Smith missed three crucial kicks when England narrowly missed out on a first win in New Zealand in 21 years in July’s first Test in Dunedin, ultimately losing 16-15, and has spoken candidly about how tough that was to digest.
The 25-year-old found his radar in the second Test in Auckland but England let a winning position slip again in a 24-17 defeat, meaning they head into next month’s autumn Tests against the All Blacks, Australia, South Africa and Japan with a meagre 50% winning record in 2024.
Smith is set to remain in the No 10 jersey with George Ford recovering from a thigh injury and Steve Borthwick favouring continuity as he puts the squad through their paces at a warm-weather training camp in Girona this week. The Harlequins fly-half revealed the lengths he has gone to in order to improve his accuracy from the tee.
“Going into that week [in Dunedin], I was probably overthinking it,” said Smith. “I don’t think I kicked that well towards the back end of last season, I felt I was a bit rushed, a bit tight on the ball.
“I have done a fair bit of breath work at the back of my run-up, especially if I am in a longer passage of play, trying to regulate my emotions and breathing so I can stay calm in that moment.
“But in that specific moment, when the lads needed me most, I wasn’t there. For me it is learning that breathing, relaxing and trusting my ability and my preparation. I just take a deep breath in, suck it up at the end, and then breathe out as slow as I can. I think it’s an army technique, to regulate.
“It just allows me to calm myself down. I do it as well if there’s big decisions or a long passage of play. I try to regulate myself so that I’m not as aggressive and as angry as I can be, especially in decision-making and the closed skill stuff. I’m probably at my best in terms of kicking when I’m calm, when I’m relaxed, and just aiming down the middle and knocking it over. I try not to overthink it, because I feel when I start overthinking it and trying to kick it over myself, it doesn’t work.
“What I love so much about working with Jonny … a lot of what we do is talking about the way you live, the way you act, the way you deal with adversity. Not that much is talking about kicking technique.
“Ultimately, I’ve practised my kicking for a long time now, since I was 12 years old, so the technique is just small nuances of it, ensuring that I’m in good rhythm. And then freeing up my mind so that I can execute in the biggest of moments.”
This season Smith has also been able to call on Leigh Halfpenny, the former Wales and British & Irish Lions full-back who joined Harlequins as injury cover in the summer. Halfpenny amassed 850 Test points over his career and Smith has been taken aback by the 35-year-old’s diligence.
“At the start of this season, I felt I have been kicking well and a lot of that is down to Leigh,” added Smith. “He is such a metronome off the tee, so meticulous with his preparation. I am enjoying kicking with him every single day, as well as with Jonny.
“I am in a good place in my mind in terms of my kicking. As a kicker you are always going to have those days but in terms of confidence in your process and belief to want the tee again and go for it again. I think I did that in the summer.
“For [Leigh] it is just down to preparation, he kicks a ridiculous amount of balls and I am trying to keep up with the amount of kicks he does. The proof is in what he has achieved, not just in a Welsh shirt but in a Lions shirt as well. When the pressure was really on, he was able to execute and I enjoy how calm he is about it as well.”
