Amateur career Originally from
Castle Douglas in Kirkcudbrightshire in Scotland, he graduated in mathematics at
Glasgow University and then gained a PhD at
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Smith played for a number of sides including
Glasgow University,
Cambridge University,
London Scottish F C,
Gosforth,
Ebbw Vale,
Edinburgh Wanderers and
Barbarians FC (the latter on their famous 1957 Easter tour of Wales, when they beat
Cardiff RFC 40–0). He won 33 caps for Scotland and was never dropped until his retirement in 1962, although he did miss some matches due to injury. He also became Scotland's captain, which is a rare honour for a winger. His debut was in 1955, a Dark Age for Scottish rugby, as the national team had just lost seventeen tests in a row. Smith helped to break this losing streak by scoring a try in a 35–10 defeat of
Wales at
Murrayfield, which was probably one of the biggest upsets in post-war rugby. Smith also captained the
1960 Scotland rugby union tour of South Africa, the first major tour undertaken by a Home Union, and scored eight points in Scotland's 18–10 loss. He was twice a British Lion, both times in South Africa (
1955 and
1962). Smith did not play in any of the internationals against in 1955 but he captained the touring party in 1962 and played in the first three internationals before being forced to miss the final match through injury. ==Profiles==