Marcus Smith uses army breathing technique to help improve his goal kicking
Smith's goal-kicking came under scrutiny against New Zealand in the summer.
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The upcoming Autumn Nations Series provides England with an opportunity to test themselves - and perhaps even put a marker down - against some of the best teams in the southern hemisphere.
After announcing his squad last Wednesday for November Tests against New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Japan, Borthwick and his troops are now over in Girona to commence training.
The visit of the All Blacks on November 2nd kicks things off as England look to exact their revenge on Scott Roberston’s side after coming agonisingly close to victory on New Zealand soil in the summer.
Amongst those included in the 36-player training squad, Marcus Smith and George Furbank are two names who are almost guaranteed to make the starting XV in 11 days time.
In the summer, Furbank played in the opening game at Eden Park and was ruled out of the second Test due to injury but his form for Northampton Saints in the first five rounds of the Premiership may make him undroppable.
“I was gutted to miss the second Test in New Zealand,” he said. “It’s another exciting opportunity to play them at home, and hopefully, I can get myself into that match day 23 and have another shot.
“With 15 minutes to go in both games, we put ourselves in a position to go and win both but came out on the wrong side through a few different elements, so we look back with frustration but also felt like we developed massively as a team over the course of that tour so we just want to keep doing that.
“We’ve spoken briefly already about areas we want to improve in to go and beat any side, let alone New Zealand. We’re pretty clear on where we need to improve to come out on the right side of those games that are tight.”
In that opening Test at Eden Park, despite it being a 16-15 loss, England could have won the game but three missed kicks at goal by the normally reliable boot of Marcus Smith meant that opportunities were missed.
Smith - who, like Furbank, has performed well for club side Harlequins - explained how that experience impacted him: “That game in Dunedin was quite a tough game for me personally.
“Going into that first Test, I was probably overthinking it. I don’t think I kicked that well towards the back end of last season. I felt I was a bit rushed and a bit tight on the ball, and it was funny going to the Japan game [England beat Japan 52-17 at the end of June] because I felt good going to the ball.
“Sometimes you can look at it and it feels like it is going to be all good, then you get to a game, and it’s suddenly all different.”
“With the All Blacks as well as world champions South Africa in town next month, taking the points when they’re on offer could be crucial for England, something which isn’t lost on Smith.
“I have done a fair bit of breathwork 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,” he added.
“Ultimately, if we are being honest, there is nothing different between kicking in a training session and in a game.
“I just take a deep breath in and suck it up at the end, and then breathe out as slowly as I can. I think it’s an army technique in order to regulate.
“So I do a bit of that, and it just allows me to calm myself down. I do it as well if there are big decisions or long passages of play in order to regulate myself so I’m not feeling too aggressive or angry, especially with decision-making and close-skill stuff.
“For me, I’m at my best kicking when I’m calm and relaxed, just aiming it down the middle and trying not to overthink it because if I do that, it won’t work. I just trust in my ability and my process.”
England fans will be hoping Smith will be at his best but another question on the minds of many will be how Borthwick’s side set-up defensively.
Following the shock resignation of defence coach Felix Jones, Borthwick has filled the position with his old university flatmate and current Oyonnax Director of Rugby Joe El-Abd.
Jones had been implementing his ‘blitz’ style defensive system that had helped South Africa to two World Cups and earlier this month, El-Abd said he was keen not to lose the ‘cohesion from the past’.
And hearing from the players, that message was reinforced.
“I don’t think Joe’s going to come in and change things massively,” Furbank said.
“He’s going to look to put his mark on it, but ultimately, it’s about improving where we are at the moment with our defence. We came on leaps and bounds with that aggressive blitz defence, so we’re just going to look at keep improving that.”
Smith added: “We want to be an aggressive defence. We want to force turnovers on the opposition to feed our attack. We got good payout from that in the summer series and Six Nations, but we’re not contempt and want to take it forward.”
