The extraordinary mental torment of Matt Smith: 'I'd always have thoughts of chucking myself... it got really bad at times'
A little under a year ago, Glasgow flanker Matt Smith found himself standing in the shower, skin numb to the jets cascading down his torso and a belt wrapped tightly around his neck. The now-retired forward was spent. He’d had enough of the misery that rugby seemed to heap upon him at a merciless rate – the non-selection, the empty promises and the long, back-breaking days battling injury.
He was done locking himself away at home, hiding his torment from the world. He felt embarrassed by a profound and prolonged bout of depression, and that seeking help was an admission of weakness in a sport where you could never give an inch. He felt like a failure.
Only 22 years old at the time, Smith saw his fledgling career begin to wilt. If he didn’t have rugby, what was there left to live for? “I’d always have thoughts of chucking myself,” he told RugbyPass. “It got really bad at times and I knew I couldn’t do it because of what it would put my family through.
“I felt like there was no existence for me beyond rugby, and if I couldn’t do rugby then what was the point in me being here. It just really ate me up. I constantly thought about it.
“It got to the stage where my partner at the time was terrified of coming home in case I’d done anything. It was really quite bad. I broke down crying near enough every day. I booked to see the doctor but I couldn’t bring myself to go – I just couldn’t do it. I really should have sought advice but I was just too terrified of speaking about it.”
There was more than one occasion where Glasgow back row Smith caught himself in the shower, grappling with a belt and frenzied emotions. How had life detonated so spectacularly?
As a gnarly, dynamic openside, he had long been earmarked for greatness, ever since thundering to prominence in a terrific Scotland U20 team. The hope was that Smith could star not just in the swashbuckling Glasgow sides, but had the skills to become a top international. He never realised – or perhaps was never allowed to realise – the scope of his talents.
Smith forever pinned his hopes on vague pledges that opportunities were imminent, then felt his world implode every week when his name wasn’t on the Glasgow team sheet. He got injured and injured again, fuelling a perception that he was “made of chocolate”. The most recent war wound, a damaged shoulder in January last year, curtailed his season.
Dave Rennie did not use Smith at Glasgow at all this term and so he was sent on loan to Edinburgh six months ago. The move was supposed to provide him with competitive minutes, but he made not a single appearance before the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
Ultimately, amid the turmoil and darkness, he realised he couldn’t go on. At just 23, he decided to walk away from rugby for good. His 25 professional outings are a meagre reflection of his ability. “Everything I ever did that I thought was alright, I would have meetings with coaches and they’d say it’s not good enough,” said Smith. “It just made me feel like I was constantly not good enough.
“That was another battle I had – feeling like I didn’t deserve to be there, feeling like I was wasting my time. Then injuries come and it’s just a conveyor belt system – you’re out the door, forgotten about. They say they’re going to give you the chance, but I waited for the chance and I never got it.
“I would sit down with Dave Rennie quite a lot but he would always say my time’s coming, my time’s coming. It never came. Young players just need game time and I didn’t get game time. What really p***** me off was moving to Edinburgh because I was told I would play and that was why they were moving me. I get there and Cockers [Richard Cockerill] just feeds me full of the same stuff.
“I just feel frustrated and annoyed because that was my final step to see if I would continue to like rugby and I ended up hating it again. I reckon if I’d gone somewhere else, it might have got my love and enjoyment for the game back, but it just spiralled out of control when I went there.”
It’s been a blast @GlasgowWarriors pic.twitter.com/QdALotfoN5
— Matt Smith (@mattsmith230) June 24, 2020
Mired in the gloom, Smith became a master of disguise at Glasgow. Every morning before driving to Scotstoun, he would don his outfit – a beaming grin and a gregarious streak – to mask the true inner melancholy. This deceit is a common trait among people in the throes of depression.
Scottish Rugby has made laudable strides in addressing the mental health of its players, particularly through former All Black Ben Atiga, who leads the Rugby For Life programme. But there is no question that it can do more.
Jason O’Halloran, the recently departed Glasgow attack coach, bemoaned the lack of attention given to sports psychology in Scotland for years. Former Warriors centre Graeme Morrison shared similarly upsetting experiences to Smith and spoke of how little aftercare was afforded to retired players.
“Like everyone in the environment, you just feel like a macho man and you can’t show any emotion,” Smith added. “I’d always be one of the smiliest people around, but I used that to hide what was really going on. It’s all about being the best and if you have that slight weakness, then you are obviously not the best.
“I feel like my whole career, everyone was too scared of going to seek advice. At Glasgow, they told guys to come and speak to this mental coach, but he had to come into the building and you’d sit down in an office where all the coaches are, so they all know you’re speaking to him. If you were told to go away from Scotstoun, out of the environment, and you didn’t need to tell anyone, the coaches didn’t need to know anything, then a lot more players would do it and it would help a lot more boys.
“Every person should have to go and do it, even if they think it is stupid. And I’d say after every injury, they should straight away go and seek help. Injuries were the biggest thing that broke me. If you are put in that environment, you know it’s okay. Instead of being like myself, I was terrified to do it and I shied away from it a lot of times. Maybe if I’d had that experience of being comfortable speaking to someone, it might have helped.”
Smith’s tale is undoubtedly shocking and extremely powerful. At various points, he described his time rugby as “hell”, “crap”, “embarrassing” and plenty more colourful language.
And yet, those of us who watch from the stands or clatter at keyboards tend to gaze upon athletes with envy. We marvel at their gilded lives of pure sport and intoxicating fame. We gawp at their physiques and tut at their salaries. There is still a perception that if you are a professional player, you occupy a land of milk and honey.
“You only feel good when you’re on the pitch,” Smith continued. “In a 20-minute spell off the bench I would feel alive – the rest of it was just really not enjoyable. Everyone says it’s the dream job, but there is nothing worse than going into training knowing you’re not going to play, you’re just going to hold a bag for someone, be everyone’s bitch. You’re just there to make up the numbers, that’s all you are.
“Everyone has got this drive to be the best and you can’t and you’re not. No-one I know understands my story. Everyone thinks I’m just this idiot – why would you do that [retire at 23]? Everyone thinks it’s this dream job. I’ve had quite a few people say that to me. It will be good for people to know the struggle I went through.”
A great tragedy here is that any athlete – indeed any person – should feel ashamed of needing help. In Smith’s case, salvation arrived first from his sister Hannah, four years his elder and a Scotland women’s international. It was to her that Smith picked up the phone as it began to dawn on him that he had to leave rugby behind.
Smith then came across Neil Watson several months ago, who offered an apprenticeship at his steel fabricating plant near Glasgow. Plans are afoot to take night classes in mechanical engineering, bolstering the qualifications he already has in the field. “It got to the stage where a cog turned in my head and I was just like, what am I doing? Why am I letting this affect my life so much?
“I was looking for a way out and I was put in touch with Neil through one of my mate’s dads. He is always keen to help people out and chatting to the boys at his rugby club. He invited me to look around his factory and because I had all the qualifications, he said if you’d like a job then you can have one. That was really my blessing, in this difficult time when everyone is losing jobs and being made redundant, I was really fortunate to meet Neil and have him take me on.”
For all that rugby pushed him to the brink, it gave Smith friendships and memories that he will cherish forever. He doesn’t hate the game. He still plans to visit Scotstoun on matchdays to watch his pals in action and then share a beer with them afterwards free from stress.
Delighted to get my hands on my great grandads shirts and caps. #alexsmith #rangers pic.twitter.com/p2Maa30CAQ
— Matt Smith (@mattsmith230) April 30, 2020
The ordeal remains startlingly recent – barely ten months have passed since the showers and the belt – but escaping from rugby felt like leeching poison from a wound. The joy radiates from him now, a smile as broad as the Clyde emerges when he talks about the fulfilment and security of his new career and the sheer relief of removing himself from a toxic world.
“Getting out of that environment has done me the world of good,” he said. “I’m glad I’ve managed to get through it without doing anything stupid. I’m finally in a really good place again. I have sorted a job, I know what I need to do and what I’m going to do and it just feels amazing. I couldn’t be happier.”
Smith had the courage and capability to find this glee. In Scotland and at large, rugby must do more to prevent talent such as his falling into shadow.
Comments on RugbyPass
I know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
2 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
2 Go to commentsNot sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
24 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to commentsJason Jenkins has one cap. When Etzebeth was his age he had over 80 caps. Experience matters. He will never amount to what Etzebeth has because he hasn’t been developed as an international player.
2 Go to commentsSays much about the player picking this gig over the easier and bigger rewards offered to him in Japan. Also says a lot about the state sanctioned tax benefits the Irish Revenue offers pro rugby players, with their ten highest earning years subject to an additional 40% tax relief and paid as a lump sum, in cash, at retirement. Certainly helps Leinster line up the financial ducks in a row to fund marquee signings like this!!! No other union anywhere in world rugby benefits from this kind of lucrative financial sponsorship from their government…
5 Go to commentsTrue Jordie could earn a lot more in Japan. But by choosing Leinster he’ll be playing with 1 of the best clubs in the world and can win a champions cup and URC…..
6 Go to commentsThanks for that Marshy, noticed you didn't say who is gonna win it. We know who ain't gonna win it - your Crusaders outfit. They've gone from having arguably the best Super Rugby first five ever, to having a clutch of rookies. Hurricanes all the way!
1 Go to commentsGeez you really have to question the NRLs ability to produce players of quality. Its pathetic. Dont the 25mil in Aus produce enough quality womens players. Sad.
1 Go to commentsBulls fan here, and agree 100% with the conclusion (and little else) of this article. SA sides should absolutely f-off from the champs cup until we get fair scheduling, equal support for travel arrangements and home semis. You know, like all the european teams get.
24 Go to commentsI’m yet to see why Grace would be an ABs contender. He’s pedestrian and lacks the dominance required of a top flight 8.
11 Go to commentsGee my Highlanders were terrible. They have gone backwards since the start of the season. The trouble began when we left Millar behind to prep as the 10 against the Brumbies and he was disconnected from the team that came back from Aussie. We rested Patchell for that game and we blew an avalanche of ball in good attacking positions in the 1st half. Against the Rebels we seem to of gone into a pod system with forwards hanging off from the breakdown leaving Fakatava to secure our ball!
80 Go to commentsPot Kettle, the English and French teams have done it for years.
24 Go to commentsHas virtually played every minute of previous games. Back row of Li Lo Willie , Grace and Blackadder would be the 1. Crusaders issue is a very average 1st 5 who cannot run. Kicking in general play is also below par They need to put Yong Kemara in. He must have so.e talent for them to bring him down from Waikato. Hoehepa would struggle to play in so.e club sided
11 Go to commentsI hope this a good thing making all these changes!
3 Go to commentsThe Hurricanes are good, especially with a decent coach now. However, let’s be real, the Crusaders and Chiefs are clearly a good degree weaker without the players they’ve lost overseas now. The Canes lost one player. It’s also why the aussie teams ‘seem’ to be stronger.
9 Go to commentsOr you could develop your own players instead of constantly taking from the SH competition and weakening it in the process? With all the player and financial resources these unions have compared to SH countries you’d think they could manage that, or is weakening the SH comps and their national sides an added bonus? Probably.
3 Go to commentsNot so fast Aaron, we might need you in black yet lol. God knows he’d be a lot less nerve-racking than hot and (very) cold players like Perofeta. It’s really a shame Reuben Love isn’t playing 10, we’ve got enough 15 options.
4 Go to commentsAnd those from the NH still seem to be puzzled (and delighted) why NZ’s depth isn’t what it once was. Over 600 NZ players overseas, that’s insane. This sort of deal is why Super Rugby coaches have admitted they struggle now to find enough quality to fill out their squads.
6 Go to comments