“I can’t really ask for much more” – Aaron Smith reacts to his performance for England Knights

25-year-old St Helens hooker Aaron Smith shone off the bench last night as England Knights downed Jamaica 56-4 in a good runout for the young side as they continue their development.

Smith, who’s had to fight for his opportunities at St Helens this term owing to the form of Lewis Dodd off the bench earlier this season and Jack Welsby’s impact as a substitute, played a fair few minutes last night at the Jungle and came up with his best performance of 2021.

The young hooker poached two tries and distributed the ball sharply helping the England Knights get on top of their opponents with considerable ease.

The 2019 Grand Final winner was pleased with the runout and the game time he managed: “Really good to get the game time. I saw Danny [Walker] coming on and I thought ‘I’m coming off here’ but obviously Will [Pryce] went down.

“I’m just happy to get the minutes and two tries on the back of that, I can’t really ask for much more.”

It appeared his distribution caught the eye and was considered key in getting England in control. When asked about his passing game, the Saints hooker said: “That’s the biggest part of my game. That and run threat and I think I did well in both those areas of the game tonight.”

✌️ A double this evening for @Saints1890's Aaron Smith!

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #EnglandRL pic.twitter.com/HLDtUUCkss

— England Rugby League (@England_RL) October 15, 2021

He also provided a brief analysis of his two tries but wanted to give credit to the forwards who gave him the position to score rather than take all the credit himself: “Mine came off the good work of the middles. They do all the hard work and I just get over the line.”

The pack needed to be good on the night against a powerful Jamaica side. They made it tough for the Knights at times and it seems Smith was impressed by their performance last night as they prepare for next year’s World Cup: “They’re a big physical side so it wasn’t easy, it’s never easy playing against a big unit.

“They’ve come on well and came with a big fight.”