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Rolling freshwater pearls between his fingers, strung together on a bracelet from the Philippines, Marcus Smith is reminiscing about the very first time he set foot on a rugby pitch. He is sitting in a meeting room in the hustle and bustle of Fitzrovia yet his mind is almost 7,000 miles away, back in Manila.
‘My mum’s Filipina, worked as an air stewardess for Cathay Pacific,’ he says. ‘I’ve got two younger brothers and we were born in Makati. We spent hours down at Manila Nomads Sports Club, watching our dad play rugby, throwing a ball around with our mates.
‘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.
‘There was this one kid, Clinton, who was rapid, running around barefoot. We’d have boots on but he used to skin us with his pace and footwork. Some of them could sidestep anyone. I loved it. It was a good time to be alive.’
England rugby star Marcus Smith has been discussing his early memories with rugby
Smith, along with his brothers, was born in the Philippines in 1999 - his mother is Filipina
Smith has become a regular fixture in the England set-up but has been competing for the No 10 shirt with Owen Farrell
It was on those pitches, well-watered by monsoon showers, that Smith started to shape his rugby philosophy. Running around, all smiles, before retreating to the clubhouse to eat rice with fried chicken and gravy. The sidestep has remained in his back pocket ever since.
When he was eight, Smith’s family moved to Singapore. His father, Jeremy, worked there in commercial real estate. New surroundings, his eyes were opened to a different way of thinking.
‘I went to a state school in the Philippines and it was very strict. If you did something wrong you’d be stood with your face against the wall for 40 minutes,’ he says, holding his palm to his nose.
He is the newest client of Roc Nation Sports International, the talent agency founded by American rapper and producer Jay-Z
‘When we moved to Singapore, we were very lucky to go to an international school. We lived on the 10th floor of a condo with a big communal pool. It was always about 30C so we spent a lot of time outside, playing hide and seek, playing with a ball, competing. I was really into my football.
‘We were always down at Centaurs Rugby Club, in the sun, barefoot, with our tops off. There were a lot of expats: Kiwis, South Africans, Australians. With the time zones, the style of rugby we were exposed to on TV was during the peak of Super Rugby. I remember watching Carlos Spencer, Dan Carter, playing with a smile on their face, backing themselves, trying crosskicks, throwing balls between their legs.’
Running his fingers through his thick black hair, he continues: ‘Mum and dad met in Hong Kong so they always took us there to watch the sevens as a family. I remember seeing guys like William Ryder, Waisale Serevi, Tomasi Cama. Players who got us on the edge of our seats. I’d practise those sidesteps and dummies with my brothers back in the garden. The mixture of those things influenced me, for sure.’
The Smith household valued entertainment. He shares a story about the time his mother tried to turn the three boys into the Jonas Brothers. Marcus on guitar, Luc on the drums, Tom on the keyboard. ‘We’d be singing Hey Soul Sister. I think mum had this fantasy that one day we’d be at the O2!’
Smith has spoken of the style of rugby he was exposed to when growing up in Asia
He would spend a lot of time outside with his brothers, being exposed to high temperatures
He is clearly close with his family, and shared stories of how they value entertainment
Shaped by his journey through Asia, Smith, eventually found himself in England as a teenager. Now 24, he is spending an afternoon in the London HQ of Roc Nation Sports International, the talent agency founded by American rapper and producer Jay-Z. He is about to be unveiled as their newest client. One of the game’s great entertainers, his jersey will soon sit on their walls alongside the likes of Kevin de Bruyne and Siya Kolisi.
Michael Yormark, the agency’s larger-than-life president, bursts into the room and wraps an arm around Smith’s shoulder. ‘Best in the world right here!’ he blasts in his American accent. ‘I don’t care what anyone says! This is the man right here!’
Yormark and Smith have discussed setting up a rugby foundation in the Philippines at some point in the future. Smith wants to change things for the better but the immediate focus is on his own self-improvement.
‘Performing is
