Tom Smith dead aged 50: Scotland rugby legend and Lions star sadly passes away after long cancer battle
British Lions and Scotland legend Tom Smith has died aged 50.
The London-born ex-loosehead prop passed away after a three-year fight with colorectal cancer.
Smith was in the Lions’ famous 1997 side that won 2-1 in South Africa after three titanic battles and in the 2-1 series losers in Australia three years later.
That made him the only Scot to play in six Lions’ Tests in a row.
The former Northampton Saints star also won 61 Scotland caps
Smith was inducted into the Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame last year.
Lions’ 1997 coach Sir Ian McGeechan described him as the ‘greatest Scotland player of the professional era’.
Lionsrugby.com quote Telfer as saying: “He was a rugby player first and a prop second,” Telfer recalled.“He was never compromised when he had the ball in his hands. He could move it quickly or take the player on or hold it up. His skill was the thing I remember with Tom.
“You could play a different kind of game when he was in the team.