fin

This weekend’s East Midlands derby against Leicester Tigers will be Smith’s first game since the British & Irish Lions tour of Australia, having completed his mandatory rest period.

He described the experience as “an absolute privilege”, while admitting to being frustrated with his performances on the pitch.

“When I reflect on it, no one can take that series from me,” he said.

“It is the pinnacle of the sport, but I have enough self-awareness to realise I didn’t play my best rugby on tour and it didn’t go as I would have liked.

“But in terms of the experience, the scale, being around the best players in the world is such a brilliant thing.

“Having been away from the game, gone on my holidays, digested that, it’s been nice to take the emotion out of it.

“Whilst I might have been on one hand frustrated, what can I learn, what can I take out of it and bring back into this season, how do I keep getting better? It starts this Saturday.”

Northampton expect to welcome back all of their four Lions players – Smith, Henry Pollock, Tommy Freeman and Alex Mitchell – to take on the Tigers.

“I am desperate to play well but I am well aware that if you try to pull rabbits out of hats and have the best game of your life it will go the other way,” Smith said.

“I need to stay nice and calm, do my job and hopefully that will lead to me performing well and impressing the powers that be.

“But first and foremost we need a good result for the town.”

Fin Graham won his fourth successive road race World Championship title as Great Britain’s Para-cyclists brought home nine medals from Belgium.

Graham, 25, launched an attack inside the final kilometre and held off France’s Thomas Peyroton Dartet to retain his C3 crown.

His victory came two days after he won time trial bronze in Ronse.

“To win a first world title back in 2022 was a dream come true, so to now be retaining that for the fourth year in a row, is something that I could never have imagined,” he said.

“To do it here in Belgium, with that crowd, was phenomenal. I was made to work for it; it was such a hard race.

“It has finished off a really good week for our squad. Retaining this title, as Paralympic champion, is very special. To race in the rainbow stripes for another year is still a pinch me moment. I’ll never get tired of looking down and seeing the rainbow bands.”

Earlier on Sunday, Sophie Unwin – with her pilot Jenny Holl – won bronze in the women’s B road race, while Morgan Newberry won the same colour in the C5 equivalent.

Those followed silvers for both riders on Friday in their respective time trials.

There was a bronze medal too for Archie Atkinson in the C4 road race, while Felix Barrow finished third in the T2 race.

On Thursday, Callum Russell became the first British man to win a World Championship hand bike medal when he won bronze in the H4 time trial.