Marcus Smith: Who is the fly-half set to lead England in the Six Nations?

Marcus Smith is the hottest name in world rugby for a good reason. The Filipino-born star’s outrageous flair and audacious play style lights the Premiership on fire week in, week out – and it has done for several years.

Now that he has finally worked his way into Eddie Jones’ good books, Smith will no doubt bring England to new levels of success in the coming seasons. The young Harlequin is a generational talent who excels in all aspects of the game and is able to elevate players around him with his incredibly smart decision making and laser vision.

The number 10 was born in the Philippines on February, 14 1999 to a British father and a Filipina mother. After moving to Singapore at age seven, he kicked off his rugby career for Centaurs RFC before a subsequent move to the UK where he enrolled at Brighton College at age 13 on a scholarship. This was where the London-based Harlequins caught their first glimpse of the future British and Irish Lion.

Nick Buoy, Smith’s coach at Brighton College had this to say to the Guardian about the star’s first XV debut at age 16: “We brought him on at scrum-half and he changed the whole game, turned it on its head, it was incredible to watch. And we thought: ‘Well, do you know what? He’s probably ready to start at fly-half’.”

Smith eventually captained Brighton’s first XV and even won Player of the Tournament at the 2016 St Joseph’s Rugby Festival. That same year, Smith had his first outing in the iconic quarters at the Premiership Rugby Sevens Series. In his final academic year at Brighton College, the Anglo-Filipino prodigy played five fixtures for the Quins’ academy side where he scored two tries.

Fresh out of college, and still just 18 years of age, Smith made his professional debut