Thomas James Smith (31 October 1971 – 6 April 2022) was a Scottish professional rugby union player who played as a loosehead prop.
Born in London and schooled in the Scottish Highlands, Smith began his career with Dundee HSFP and then Watsonians before joining the Caledonia Reds as the game changed from amateur to professional.
At international level, Smith earned 61 caps for Scotland and was selected for two tours with the British & Irish Lions, in 1997 and 2001, starting six consecutive tests.
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.
Surprising many, Smith was selected to start all three test matches alongside Paul Wallace and Keith Wood,[9] in preference to the other touring props Jason Leonard and Graham Rowntree.
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.
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.
[10] 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.
considering him the greatest loose head prop the team had ever had,[citation needed] alongside Grand Slam-winning captain David Sole.