Vesty hails 'real leader' Smith after fly-half signs on again at Saints
Sam Vesty hailed 'real leader' Fin Smith after the England and British & Irish Lions fly-half signed a new multi-year contract at Saints.
The 23-year-old has made Northampton his home since arriving from Worcester Warriors in 2022, making 63 appearances in black, green and gold to date.
His ascent started at Shipston-on-Stour RFC, before he joined Warwick School and was picked up by Warriors – where he signed on full-time in 2020 and went on to become their youngest-ever player to start in a PREM match in March 2021, aged just 18 years and 313 days.
Since joining Saints, Smith has accumulated 589 points in three seasons, scoring five tries, landing 177 conversions and 66 penalties, and kicking four drop-goals – including one in the in the PREM Final success over Bath Rugby at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
Smith’s rise has not been limited to the domestic stage; a senior England debut arrived in 2024 when he came off the bench against Italy in the Six Nations, before he earned his first start in the England No.10 jersey in the same competition a year later.
Most recently, his success in both a Saints and England shirt saw him selected by the Lions for last summer’s tour to Australia, alongside Saints team-mates Tommy Freeman, Alex Mitchell and Henry Pollock.
With Smith now locked in for the foreseeable future, Saints continue to build a squad to challenge for silverware both domestically and in Europe – and the fly-half is set to be at the heart of it all.
“Fin’s a great person, a big character in the squad, and an absolute gentleman off the field," said Saints head coach Vesty.
“He works hard every day and is someone who gives everything he has on the pitch. He not only pushes himself to be the best rugby player he can be, but he puts a real focus on driving improvement in the wider group as well.
“Fin’s a real leader of this squad; he wants us to be better as a team, and he puts a lot of emphasis on helping the people around him. That makes my life as a coach an easy one.
“He also is unbelievably easy to coach, and has been an absolute pleasure to work with since he joined us. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with him.”