Smith relishing his return to Westcliff

The powerful centre has spent the past three seasons playing abroad.

But the 28-year-old is now delighted to be back at the Gables and cannot wait to start the season this weekend.

“It’s been very pleasing to come back to Westcliff, especially after they had such a strong season last year,” said Smith.

“There is a good buzz around the club and hopefully we can go one better this season.

“Settling back in has been easy, because I have lots of good friends still playing in the ones and twos as well so it’s always nice to be back playing and training with some familiar faces.”

And Smith also believes spells playing in Australia and Italy have helped him to become an even better player.

“In Australia the speed of the game is much quicker,” said Smith.

“Having a strong basic skill set and being able to implement that at speed is a massive advantage in attack.

“In Italy it’s about the passion and physicality.

“No matter what the score you stick together and never take a backwards step.”

Smith will now be looking to put that into practice when Westcliff start their London & SE Premier Division season at Dorking on Saturday.

And Westcliff head into the game on the back of a fine pre-season campaign.

“Pre-season has been very impressive,” said Smith.

“We are getting great numbers to training and the quality of the rugby is increasing every week.

“The coaches are leading it but the players are taking responsibility and constantly putting pressure on each other to improve.

“The squad look fit and strong and ready to go come the first game.”

But Smith is expecting a difficult opening test.

“The first game of the season is always tough,” said Smith.

“Squads tend to be at their strongest at the start of the season but if we play to our strengths and stick to our patterns then I’m sure we will come away with the result we want.”