Tom Smith (rugby union, born 1971)

Tom Smith (born 31 October 1971 in London, England) is an English-born former Scotland international rugby union loosehead prop who played for Glasgow Warriors, Caledonia Reds and Northampton Saints and also represented the British and Irish Lions. He is now a rugby coach. Smith was one of the finest loosehead props of the modern era.

Tom Smith
Birth nameThomas James Smith
Date of birth (1971-10-31) 31 October 1971
Place of birthLondon, England
Height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight16 st 3 lb (103 kg; 227 lb)
SchoolEmanuel School and Rannoch School
SpouseZoe Smith
ChildrenAmelie Smith, Angus Smith and Edward Smith
Rugby union career
Position(s) Prop
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
1990–199?
19??–1995
Dundee High School FP
Watsonians
()
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1996–1998
1998–1999
1999–2001
2001–2009
Caledonia Reds
Glasgow Warriors
CA Brive
Northampton Saints

6

174

(0)

(50)
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
1997–2005
1997, 2001
Scotland
British and Irish Lions
61
6
(30)
(0)
Teams coached
Years Team
2009–2012
2012–2015
Edinburgh (Forwards Coach)
Lyon OU (Forwards Coach)

Education and background

Born to a Scottish mother – his English father died when he was only six – he was given a boarder's education at a Scottish school on the banks of Loch Rannoch.[1] He was first educated at Emanuel School in London, before moving to Rannoch School. His rugby skills were honed by the school's science teacher. Smith stated: "The things I learnt while playing rugby at Rannoch were work ethic and fitness. Our pitch was covered in snow and frozen solid for three months of the year, so there was a lot of running up and down hills. We were pretty well drilled and were made to work hard. There were times when it was pretty tough and cold out here but at the end of the day rugby is a hard game and you need to be tough to play it".[2] He is the great-grandson of Scottish international footballer Jack Bell.[3]

Club career

Smith's career spanned the amateur and professional game. He started out at the amateur clubs Dundee High School FP and then played for Watsonians prior to the professionalism of the old Scottish District teams. Of these pre-professional times, Smith was to say: "You find out about survival the hard way. When I joined my first senior club in Dundee, there was an old prop called Danny Herrington, a bit of a local legend, who basically shoved my head up my arse in training, twice a week every week for what seemed like years. Now, that's what you call a learning curve. Those training sessions were my classroom."[1]

On professionalism in Scotland in 1996 he joined Caledonia Reds.[4] The Reds won the Scottish Inter-District Championship in the 1996–97 season, the first Inter-District championship of Scotland's professional era. He played in the Heineken Cup with Caledonia Reds and also played in the 1997–98 Scottish Inter-District Championship the following season.

In 1998, the Scottish Rugby Union decided it could not afford to run the traditional four Scottish districts at a professional level. Caledonia Reds and the Border Reivers were disbanded and the districts merged with Glasgow and Edinburgh respectively. Smith was one of the lucky players that moved to the renamed Glasgow Caledonians, now Glasgow Warriors. He played in the 1998–99 Scottish Inter-District Championship - then a Tri-Series between Edinburgh and Glasgow - and played 4 matches in the European Conference for Glasgow in that season.

After one season at Glasgow Warriors he was taken on at French club CA Brive. He stayed a further two seasons with the club.

Smith returned to the UK in 2001 to join Northampton Saints in the English Premiership making his Northampton debut on 1 September 2001. Over the subsequent eight seasons his appetite for the action never diminished and neither did his popularity with the Saints' fans. His time at Franklin's Gardens included two Powergen Cup finals, a Heineken Cup semi-final and three Heineken Cup quarter finals. He remained at Northampton until his retirement from playing in 2009.

International career

Smith earned his first Scotland cap in 1997 in the Calcutta Cup match versus England at Twickenham. Despite only having a 3 caps to his name at the time he was included by coach Ian McGeechan in the squad for the 1997 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa. Surprising many, Smith was selected to start all three test matches alongside Paul Wallace and Keith Wood over the other touring props Jason Leonard and Graham Rowntree. His strong scrummaging and good hands alongside many other great team performances ensured that the Lions won over their much more highly fancied hosts and won the series 2–1.

He was also selected in the 2001 Lions tour of Australia and played all three test matches of that series also to become the only Scot to play the six consecutive Lions tests matches of 1997 and 2001 when he played against Australia.

For the next eight-years Smith was to be a first choice starter for Scotland and talismanic figure for the team winning the Five Nations in 1999 and captaining the side throughout the 2001 Autumn Internationals. Smith was also Scotland's Player of the Season in 2000–01. He was included in the Zurich World XV for 2002, a notional team list that was compiled based on ratings from detailed video analysis of performances during the past year.[5] After an international career that included two World Cups and six consecutive Lions tests, Smith's final match in the blue jersey came, appropriately enough, against England in the 2005 Six Nations clash at Twickenham.

Smith was a fan favourite with the Murrayfield faithful with many considering him the greatest loose head prop the team had ever had, alongside Grand Slam winning captain David Sole.

Coaching

Having retired from playing in 2009 he took on the roll of forwards coach at Edinburgh under Rob Moffat.

In May 2012 it was announced that he had been appointed as Forwards Coach with French club Lyon.[6][7]

Personal life

It was announced on 21 November 2019 that Smith had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, with tumours in his colon, brain and liver.[8]

References

  1. "Tom Smith: 'I played right after one seizure – not a good idea'". The Independent. 23 October 2011.
  2. "Lions 2013: Tom Smith's rugged route to rugby excellence". The Daily Telegraph. 12 June 2013.
  3. https://www.toffeeweb.com/season/19-20/comment/history/38948.html
  4. BILL LEITH (22 October 2011). "Glasgow's first steps to Europe". The Independent.
  5. "Zurich World XV". The New Zealand Herald. 22 December 2002. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  6. "Tom Smith appointed as forwards coach". edinburghrugby.org. 21 July 2009. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  7. "Tom Smith announces retirement from top-class rugby". northamptonsaints.co.uk. 22 April 2009. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  8. "Tom Smith: Former British and Irish Lions prop reveals stage four cancer diagnosis". BBC Sport. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
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