Smith made his Tigers debut against the Barbarians in March 2006 and, by the close of the 2006/07 season, had played on a further three occasions for the first team.

Smith had been a regular member of Tigers’ successful Development XV over the past two seasons, where his versatility saw him excel at centre, full-back or fly-half.

Smith entered his second year as a member of the first-team squad in 2007/08 and he was loaned out to National Division One team Nottingham.

[6] The 2008/09 season saw Smith make his breakthrough into regular first team action, appearing in all 16 of the games before Christmas 2008.

In January 2009 he received a call up to the England Saxons[7] and came off the bench to score a debut try in the match against Portugal.