Marcus Smith insists England’s chastening Six Nations experience will be the making of him.
The young playmaker returns to France this weekend for the first time since defeat by the Grand Slam champions condemned England to also-ran ignominy.
Harlequins play Montpellier on Sunday in the first of a two-legged European Cup round of 16 and Smith is on a mission to turn the frustration of winter into a glorious late spring.
“No-one goes on the field to lose,” he said of a campaign in which England won against only Italy and the team Italy beat, Wales.
“But I’ve learned a lot about myself, about my mentality going to tough places away from home, as well as how we can improve as a group.
“Specifically, about playing in high-pressure environments like Murrayfield and away in France. You get a lot of stick as an Englishman at Murrayfield!
“Maybe I was a bit naïve, going up there thinking it would be plain sailing. It was a tough Test match.
“But I’ve learned about how to control myself in big moments, pressure moments, which I will try to bring back here, hopefully for knock-out games with Harlequins.”
The first test of that learning comes at Montpellier, reigning European Challenge Cup holders and leaders of France’s Top-14.
“They’re a brilliant team and they’re going to throw everything at us,” said Smith. “But we’re in a different place as a Quins team these days. We have much greater ambitions.”
“It’s the biggest tournament in Europe for a club player and we don’t want to just take part, we want to win the silverware.”
Despite being top scorer in the Six Nations fly-half Smith threw only one scoring pass in England’s five matches.
He maintains that boss Eddie Jones and attack coach Martin Gleeson were “brilliant for my attacking game”, even if it was not obvious to see.
"I tried my best, as we all did,” Smith added. “It gave us good learnings and whoever gets selected for the tour to Australia will be better equipped and more ready and sharper in their attack for sure.”
For his own part, Smith took time away post-Six Nations to “re-evaluate” his performances and to set himself targets for improvement.
His return to action last weekend confirmed he has refocused and is re-energised for the business end of the club season and on into England’s three-Test trip to Oz.
Smith threw two scoring passes and expertly pulled the strings as Harlequins thrashed London Irish 41-14 in their own Brentford backyard.
Victory keeps Quins third behind Leicester and Saracens and on course for the play-offs where a year ago they bucked the odds to beat Bristol and then Exeter.
“We’re not fazed by anyone, we back ourselves as individuals and as a group,” he warned.
“Last year no-one gave us a chance, and I don’t feel people give us a chance this year. We’ve got to fight but we’re ready for that.
“It starts in Montpellier. We’ll try to take them out of their comfort zone and throw something at them they haven’t seen before.”
