Fin Smith, the England fly-half, clearly remembers the day he first met Northampton teammate George Hendy. Smith was seven and unimpressed by the elevation of a precocious six-year-old to his age group team at Shipston-on-Stour RFC. Even then Hendy was hard to miss. “This lad turned up with bright orange hair and his legs put on backwards,” says Smith. “I was probably not too excited in getting him involved.”
Fast forward 16 years and both can be found on the same Saints teamsheet. Smith is already an England regular and Hendy, hoping to make a striking impact against Castres in the Champions Cup quarter-finals on Saturday, is aiming to wear the red rose in Argentina and the United States this summer. With the fast rising Henry Pollock also making a major splash, Northampton’s dressing room is not short of youthful ambition.
