Marcus Smith’s coaches from
Singapore to Harlequins via Brighton College, all have seen what Eddie Jones has seen – he has the potential to light up the international stage
![‘He could do things other kids couldn’t even see’: the making of Marcus Smith](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b6581b0c0c82862d60402408347dea1d82f9dd88/0_0_2658_1596/master/2658.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=2f42351a07d5a8ba7f20fe9436a978cd)
Seven years ago Jake Letts, CEO of Philippine Rugby, got a call from the union’s treasurer, who explained that his godson was in Manila, and wanted to pop along to a training session Letts was running for the national under-19 team. He was only 15, Letts remembers, “but he only wants to hold some bags or whatever”. So Letts told him to go stand at full-back: “The boys will kick to you and you can collect it and kick it back.” He caught the first ball and broke into a run, past one, two, three of the bigger kids. Letts remembers looking up to the coach next to him, and asking him: “Who did you say this kid was again?”
“I didn’t know anything about him,” Letts says. “I just knew right away that he had sheer talent.”