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
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.”