He made his rugby union debut alongside the mercurial Danny Cipriani in a Guinness Premiership ‘A’ league clash against Harlequins at Henley in mid December.

But Smith insists he has not even considered forcing his way into Martin Johnson’s Six Nations plans in February, with his immediate focus very much on becoming a permanent fixture for Wasps.

Signed as an option at full-back, wing and centre – Smith knows he faces the fight of his life to hold down a regular starting berth, with Danny Cipriani, Dave Walder, Dominic Waldouck, Steve Kefu, Ben Jacobs, David Lemi, Tom Varndell, Mark Gisbergen and Paul Sackey all competing for just six spots in the Wasps backline.

“There’s been absolutely no contact from anyone at England,” said Smith. “I’ve got enough of a challenge getting into the Wasps team before I even think about international rugby.

“I played for England in rugby league and playing for your country is always an incredible experience and if I didn’t think I could do it I wouldn’t have come across but that’s a long time in the future.

“My first aims are to get in the Wasps team and help them win trophies and there’s no reason why we can’t do that this season.

“There are some fantastic backs here with the likes of Danny Cipriani, Paul Sackey, Tom Varndell, David Lemi and plenty more so I’ve got a battle on my hands to get in this team.

“I enjoyed my first taste of a competitive game against Quins at Henley and I learnt so much from it.

“It was a struggle for us to get any pattern going but more matches like that will only help me get to where I want to be and that’s in the first-team picture.

“I will be at every game and watching as closely as possible to see what I can pick up.”

Stepping out of his comfort zone, switching codes and moving to Kew was certainly not an easy decision for Smith – an undoubted star of the 13-man game.

But the prospect of working alongside two of the most experienced and respected coaches in the European club game, director of rugby Tony Hanks and one-time League legend Shaun Edwards was too appealing for Smith to turn down.

So far he has kept out of the way of Wasps’ giant pack in training but Smith plans to make his mark sooner rather than later in both the Guinness Premiership and in Europe in the Amlin Cup.

“The move has gone really well and I’ve settled into the club and the surroundings,” added Smith.

“It was a big move for me but the boys here have made it easy for me.

“I’m learning so much in every session and it’s been great to go straight into training with the first-team squad.

“But I’m not going to get too far ahead of myself – it’s going to take time to get up to the speed that they are at.

“I’ve had plenty of stick as a rugby league player from the north and coming down to London that was always going to happen but I’m very lucky I’ve got Shaun to stick up for me.

“I’ve tried to keep out of the way of the forwards and the ruck and mauls as much as I can until I get my technique sorted out.

“I’ve not really spoken to Shaun or Tony about when I’m going to play in the first-team – that just creates pressure and I won’t play until we all think I’m ready.

“I just want to get in the team and help out in anyway that I can really – that’s going to be a difficult job in itself.

“Some people have tried to put pressure on me about rugby league players coming across but there’s none from myself.”