England fly-half Marcus Smith reveals use of ‘army techniques’ to help perfect his kicking ahead of New Zealand clash – after rediscovering his form off the tee for Harlequins this season

England fly-half Marcus Smith revealed he has used army-style techniques to help perfect his kicking ahead of next week’s Test against the All Blacks.

Smith missed three kicks during the summer defeat in Dunedin, where England lost to New Zealand by one point.

He has rediscovered his form off the kicking tee for Harlequins this season and tipped to retain the No 10 jersey for the series opener at Twickenham.

‘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,’ said Smith.

‘That game in Dunedin was quite a tough game for me personally. Going into that week, I was probably overthinking it. In that specific moment, when the lads needed me most, I wasn’t there.

Smith missed three kicks during the summer, where England lost to New Zealand by one point

‘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. I just take a deep breath in, suck it up at the end, and then breathe out as slow as I can. It’s like an army technique that allows me to calm myself down.’

Smith changed his boots and delivered a flawless kicking performance in the final Test against the All Blacks in Auckland.

He has since been working with his new Quins team-mate Leigh Halfpenny and World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson to fine-tune his technique.

‘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 who I see as well. 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.’