Ian Smith (rugby union, born 1903)
Birth name | Ian Scott Smith | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 31 October 1903 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Melbourne, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 18 September 1972 | (aged 68)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Winchester College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
University | Oxford, Edinburgh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation(s) | solicitor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ian Scott Smith (31 October 1903 – 18 September 1972) was a
Biography
Smith was born in Melbourne in Australia in 1903, but was brought up in New Zealand.
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.[1][2][6][7] He played in Scotland's remaining 1924 Five Nations matches – against Ireland and a Calcutta Cup match against England – although he was unable to score again.[6] In 1924 he was invited to play for the Barbarians for their annual encounter with East Midlands for the Mobbs Memorial Match.[8] Smith scored one of five tries for the Barbarians during the game to win 15–3.[9] He played in a total of six matches for the Barbarians, including five games during the club's 1923 and 1924 Easter tours.[8]
In the second half of 1924 he was selected to
In 1925 Smith played in all four of Scotland's
Smith continued to play for Scotland throughout the 1920s. He played all four Scotland matches in the 1926 Five Nations, and scored two tries against England at Twickenham;[16] his only tries of the Championship.[17] He played three matches in 1927, this times scoring four tries, two against France and two against England.[6] In both 1926 and 1927 Scotland shared the Five Nations Championship with Ireland.[18] Smith did not play in 1928, but returned in 1929, when Scotland won the Five Nations again. He played all four matches, and scored three tries, two against England.[17][18]
In 1930 Smith played three Five Nations' matches, missing the England game, and did not score any tries. He did play all four matches in 1931, and scored his only tries of the Championship in the game against England. This was the fourth time he scored two tries in a match against England.[19] In January 1932 Smith played for Scotland against South Africa, which was won 6–3 by South Africa.[20] By 1932 France had been ejected from the Championship due to allegations of professionalism, and the four Home Nations returned to only playing one another for the International Championship.[a] Smith played all three matches in 1932, but scored only once, against England.[6]
In 1933, Smith captained Scotland for the Home Nations Championship. 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. He would just tell us to get on with it; no great plans or anything, because he didn't know much about the game."[4]
Smith played in all three matches during the Championship, and scored one try when they played Wales in February.[6] They played Ireland last after the planned match had been cancelled because of a blizzard. They won the match 8–6 and secured the Championship and the Triple Crown. It was Smith's last match for Scotland.[2]
Smith studied accounting at the University of Edinburgh, and served in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps during the Second World War. Following the war he practised law, before retiring to Kelso in the Scottish Borders.[6][21] In 2013 Smith was included in the second group of inductees into the Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame.[21]
Rugby writer Richard Bath wrote of him:
A member of the famous Oxford quartet of
Statistics and character
Smith played a total of 32 Tests for Scotland, and scored 24 tries, which still gives him a share of second place in the Scottish try record with Tony Stanger.[2][22] Smith's record for international tries was not beaten until 1987 when it was overtaken by Australian David Campese.[19] Remarkably, Smith's first 17 tries were scored in only 14 Test matches.[5] His 24 career tries in the Five Nations – now Six Nations – remained a record until first equalled and then surpassed by Ireland's Brian O'Driscoll in 2011.[15] Smith spent much of his playing career playing in the backline with GPS Macpherson;[5] 21 of Smith's 24 Scotland tries were scored outside the three-quarter Macpherson. When Smith scored four tries against France in 1925, Macpherson contributed to all those scores.[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.[24]
Notes
- ^ This was the format prior to France joining in 1910. France were readmitted after the 1939 tournament, but did not compete in the competition until 1947 due to the Second World War.
References
- ^ ISBN 1-86200-013-1.
- ^ a b c d "Ian Smith Wing (1924–1933)". The Scotsman. 2 May 2002. Archived from the original on 23 September 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2007.
- ^ "National team's comprehensive advance". The Scotsman. 10 December 2005. Retrieved 27 October 2007.
- ^ a b Ferguson, David (2 May 2007). "Party time for oldest Scottish cap". The Scotsman. Retrieved 27 October 2007.
- ^ a b c Griffiths, John (14 March 2011). "Ian Smith, Championship try records and the oldest school matches". ESPN. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f "Ian Smith". ESPN. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
- ^ "Five Nations – Inverleith, 2 February 1924 Scotland (22)35 – 10(0) Wales (FT)". ESPN. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
- ^ a b "Player Archive I. S. Smith". barbarianfc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
- ISBN 0-8600-7552-4.
- ^ "1924 South Africa". lionsrugby.com. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
- ^ "Player Archive – Ian Smith". lionsrugby.com. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
- ISBN 0356142000.
- ^ "Five Nations – Inverleith, 24 January 1925 Scotland (5)25 – 4(4) France (FT)". ESPN. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
- ^ a b MacDonald, Paul. "First Scottish Grand Slam". BBC. Retrieved 27 October 2007.
- ^ a b "Six Nations facts and figures". BBC. 25 January 2007. Retrieved 27 October 2007.
- ^ "Five Nations – Twickenham, 20 March 1926 England (3)9 – 17(14) Scotland (FT)". ESPN. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
- ^ a b "Player analysis – Ian Smith". ESPN. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- ^ a b "Six Nations roll of honour". BBC. 29 January 2004. Retrieved 27 October 2007.
- ^ a b Llewellyn, Dai. "Ian Scott Smith". Rugby Football Union. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
- ^ "South Africa Tour – Murrayfield, 16 January 1932 Scotland (3)3 – 6(0) South Africa (FT)". ESPN. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
- ^ a b Bathgate, Stuart (8 November 2013). "Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame: Ten legends inducted". The Scotsman. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- ^ "Guide to Scottish Rugby: Where are they now". The Scotsman. 28 January 2003. Retrieved 27 October 2007.
- ^ "GPS (Phil) Macpherson – Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame". edinburghaccies.com. 5 November 2010. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
- ^ Bath 1997, p. 160.