Mature Smith ready to take another step up at Saints this season

Such is the maturity that he conducts himself with on and off the pitch, it feels like he is one of the elder statesmen of the Saints side.

But he isn't alone.

The likes of Alex Coles and Fraser Dingwall are still not at the mid point of their careers, yet their words carry such weight at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens.

And Saints, who recently named George Furbank as the new club captain, will be looking for their studious young men to take the lead in the season ahead.

The likes of Courtney Lawes and Lewis Ludlam, players who have been the emotional heartbeat of the club for so long, have now departed.

And that means even more responsibility for Smith, Coles, Dingwall and Furbank.

But that won't faze them one bit.

"I was involved in a big amount of the tactical and technical rugby bits last year," Smith said.

"The more experienced guys would take on more of the emotional leadership and the big ramp-ups and tap into the history of stuff.

"It's something I'm looking forward to growing more this year, feeling where the group is at, whether they need to just relax or how I can push them to be super ramped up for the weekend.

"It's going to be a big workload we're going to have to take on with those senior guys leaving."

Though Saints head into this season as Gallagher Premiership champions, there is a school of thought that less is expected of them now the likes of Lawes and Ludlam have departed.

And Smith feels his side can use that to their advantage.

"I think so, absolutely," he said.

"It's always a lot of pressure and everyone always seems to be gunning for the team that has won the league.

"But while we expect that to happen, we quite like the idea that we're going to quietly go about our business and hopefully surprise a few people like we did last year.

"It's going to be a positive for us.

"They're obviously great players but we've still go a core of the group who were here last year and we're working to replicate what happened last season."

Smith enjoyed an incredible campaign last season, earning him the RPA men's players' player of the year.

He was also nominated for the European player of the year prize, alongside the likes of Lawes and eventual winner Antoine Dupont.

Smith earned England honours - he now has five Test caps to his name - and went on the tour of Japan and New Zealand a couple of days after Saints claimed the Gallagher Premiership crown at Twickenham.

But the fly-half insists the fire burns brighter than ever for him ahead of the new season.

"Last year I had a big goal to get capped, and that happened," Smith said.

"Obviously we did something great in the league and I'd love for this group to back up what we did last year.

"Potentially with some of the outgoings we've had, maybe people are writing us off a little bit, but we're super confident we've got enough quality to back it up. It's a big thing for us.

"Personally I want to keep working hard and see how it goes."

He added: "The way last season finished for me has given me a real hunger going into this season.

"It felt like I had a good year for Northampton and then didn't maybe perform how I would have liked in New Zealand.

"It's been less dwelling on what's been and being really positive about what I want to take into this season.

"It doesn't feel too much like pressure.

"I want to be the best player I can be so I'm not feeling too much weight right now."

Smith steered the ship for Saints and England in some huge matches last season.

And those experiences will stand him in good stead for the campaign ahead.

He said: "It's something that Courtney (Lawes) talked about a lot and something I definitely noticed from those games. It's the team that does the basics best that comes out on top.

"It's about how physical you can be, how calmly you can exit and how well you can take points when you're in the opposition 22.

"It's never about reinventing the wheel in those big games. It's easy to think that but if we can stick to what we do and the core values of rugby that will stand us in good stead."

And Saints will certainly look to be in full flow when the new campaign gets started at Bath on September 20.

"We always talk about moving the ball to space and that's absolutely the goal, to keep pushing ourselves to play an exciting brand of rugby but also one that is going to help us win games," Smith said.

"We've had a lot of success playing the Northampton style so we're hoping to keep going with that."

Smith helped Saints beat Bath in last season's league showpiece.

But he didn't get much time to celebrate it as he was soon off to Japan with England.

"It's so week to week and you've got a different challenge each week," he said.

"We probably had a couple of days after winning the Premiership to really celebrate and enjoy what we did as a group because it was a huge achievement and a great year as a team. I felt like I took great strides personally.

"But then we were straight back into the next challenge, going to New Zealand and Japan.

"Everything's fast moving but I'm sure it's something I'll look back on in years to come as probably the best season I've enjoyed so far in my career."

Smith formed a formidable partnership with scrum-half Alex Mitchell for club and country last season.

And the former Worcester Warriors fly-half said: "It's great.

"Firstly, Mitch is one of my best mates so we spend a lot of time together.

"We grew a lot last year and spoke every other day about how we saw the team going and how we could help drive that.

"Off the back of the tour, we've had a couple of conversations about things we think England do well and things we think Northampton do well and how we can take the best from both and drive that into this season.

"We're looking to get better day by day and I love playing alongside him."