[5] Smith had Scottish parents and ancestors from the Borders region, and so was eligible to play for Scotland.

He was first capped for Scotland when he faced Wales on 2 February 1924, and he scored three tries on Test debut; a 35–10 victory.

[6] In 1924 he was invited to play for the Barbarians for their annual encounter with East Midlands for the Mobbs Memorial Match.

[9] He played in a total of six matches for the Barbarians, including five games during the club's 1923 and 1924 Easter tours.

[11] Rowe Harding, an opponent with Wales and a team-mate with the 1924 Lions, reckoned Smith to be the "greatest wing of all time".

Their third game of the Championship was against Ireland at Lansdowne Road, and although Smith was unable to score this time, Scotland still won 14–8.

English supporters claimed Smith had put his foot into touch, but the Welsh referee disagreed and awarded the try.

Because of his background of playing association football, teammate James Henderson said of Smith: He was great, of course, 'The Flying Scotsman', but when he was our captain in the 1933 Triple Crown success, we never had team talks before the game.

[2] Smith studied accounting at the University of Edinburgh, and served in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps during the Second World War.

[21] Rugby writer Richard Bath wrote of him: A member of the famous Oxford quartet of Wallace, Aitken, Macpherson and Smith, the lithe Australian-born wing made his mark as an integral member of the outstanding sides of the 1920s, which won the Grand Slam in 1925, the year when he scored an astounding eight tries in the first two internationals of the season against France and Wales.

[1]Smith played a total of 32 Tests for Scotland, and scored 24 tries, which still gives him a share of third place in the Scottish try record with Tony Stanger.

[23] Author Richard Bath wrote: An exuberant young man, who once famously drove his car down an Edinburgh pavement after a post-international drinking binge, Smith held the record for tries scored (24), until he was overtaken by Australia's David Campese, 55 years after Smith retired to concentrate on his career as a solicitor.