The man on the other end of the telephone is laughing – 'whoever writes Marcus' scripts needs to be paid more money!'
Paul Stephens is talking to Sportsmail from Singapore and like most in rugby he is happily revelling in the expanding lore of Marcus Smith – the kid he helped bring through at Centaurs RFC at the foot of Bukit Timah Hill.
He was just one of several dads, with Brett Wright, Ross Wilson, Steve Thurley and Charles Cooper, coaching the under-7s to under-12s a decade ago at the ex-pats sports club set up by a man called Tim Lambert in 2002.
Marcus Smith made his debut for England against the USA before being called up by the Lions
If it were not for Covid, Paul would have been at Harlequins' bonkers Premiership final win in June, Smith's England debut at Twickenham against the USA the following week and the Canada match after that where the fly-half found out live on television he was to be a British & Irish Lion.
Rather than rush off to Heathrow for his flight to South Africa, Smith spent time talking to Lambert, who had made it to Twickenham.
In the press conference after Smith saluted him and Centaurs, the club he might not be here now without.
Smith went to Singapore aged seven, his father, Jeremy a banker from Brighton, and Filipino mother Suzanne who worked for Cathay Pacific, moved him and younger sons Luc and Thomas there from Batangas in the Philippines.
Smith is enjoying an expanding lore and came through at Centaurs RFC (pictured here aged 12)
A sports-nut, Jeremy had the boys playing football, cricket and his first love, rugby. It started with touch, quick, short training games as they had few opponents to play against, and then grew to tours.
Five hours to Kuala Lumpur on the bus, flights to Hong Kong and Melbourne, always just playing, enjoying, learning and crafting an art that would see Marcus become the most exciting English rugby player for a generation.
'He was very small, so we used him at scrum-half rather than 10 when we moved to contact as he was the best passer we had,' Paul recalls.
'You don't have big forwards and centres trucking up at you as much there!
'You won't find anyone who'll have a bad word to say about him – even though he was a lot better than other kids he didn't act as though he was.'
Smith became the most exciting English rugby player in a generation, in part due to Centaurs
At Centaurs now they could not be prouder of their most famous son. A flag-bearer for British-Asians, Smith is from a diaspora firmly in English rugby's blindspot.
'Everyone needs a role model, so he's definitely an inspirational figure,' Paul says.
'It's good for non-Caucasian kids to see a non-Caucasian face up there. It's going to be great for English rugby to see this diverse side come through.
'Marcus was an extremely polite kid, and still is. He hasn't changed a bit. He always had a massive work-ethic and hated losing.'
Really, intensely hated losing. For secondary school, Smith won a scholarship to Brighton College. By 16 he was the youngest player in the 1st XV, already then dragging his team back from impossible positions, like he does now for Harlequins.
At Centaurs now they could not be prouder of their most famous son (pictured), a flag bearer
Smith is pictured above with Centaurs, having won the Bintang 10s Cup tournament aged 12
In his first match Brighton went to Henley, a big academy school they were not expected to compete with.
With fizzing distribution, leadership and strength of will Smith took Brighton close. Then he was thrown the kicking-tee 45 metres out – a penalty in the dying seconds to win the game by a point. It hit the left post.
'He was so angry at himself. I gave him a lift back with my dad and his dad, and he didn't speak for the whole car ride,' remembers Will Wright, his scrum-half and captain at school who ended up at Oxford University.
'Everyone was rallying round: "mate that was unbelievable! You were nearly the hero!" He said "no, not good enough. The standard has to be better".'
Driven? You bet. Those in England's development pathway think he is the most competitive player they have ever seen.
Smith found out live on television after the Canada game that he would be a British & Irish Lion
Some remember the teenage 'Moody Marcus', a boy so desperate not to lose he would trip up opponents who were about to score. Now, using 'gazing' mental techniques he has learnt to smile amid the steeliness he has always possessed.
Proof of the latter comes via a cricket match at Brighton.
Smith always kept wicket, the youngest to do so in the Sussex Premier Men's league aged 14. He batted, grittily, preferring to die before he got out, but never bowled.
Until one day, aged 17, he decided he felt loose at a triangular tournament between Brighton, Sedburgh and Oakham.
'He bowls this unbelievably quick spell, properly bending his back against Oakham, wins us this game from absolutely nowhere by taking four wickets bowling genuine pace – 75-80mph,' says Wright.
In England's development pathway, Smith is viewed as the most competitive player ever seen
'The next day we played Sedburgh – they'd heard about the spell and were whispering "this is the kid that can bowl absolute wheels!" So we set a field and told him to bowl short again; he was getting up by people's shoulders and heads, spicy chin music!
'He could turn his hand to anything.'
Smith was not always this man. As a
