HARD HITTING VIEW

“The greatest Scottish rugby player of the professional era.”

It is quite an accolade, especially when the person behind the quote is Sir Ian Mcgeechan, the greatest British and Irish Lions coach ever.

He was referring to the quiet, understated Scottish prop, Tom Smith, who sadly succumbed to cancer this week.

There have been tributes for Smith from all corners of the rugby world, and rightly so. He was no ordinary player.

He burst on to the scene this very weekend a number of years ago, at the Melrose Sevens, winning the tournament in the colours of Watsonians.

Soon after, with only three Scottish caps under his belt, he found himself on the Lions tour to South Africa in 1997, where he really established himself as a world-class player.

He started all three tests in 1997 and then again in 2001 – few players have done that which, in itself, speaks volumes for Smith.

Smith was small for a prop but he more than made up for that with exceptional pace and incredible handling skills.

He could do things that put the skills of backs to shame, dummying his way through the most congested of defences to get his team on the front foot.

The fact that he was in a Melrose Sevens-winning side is testament to his ability on a rugby field where the spaces can expose the merest frailty.

If there was one weakness in his game, it was perhaps in his tight play. Smaller props often come in for criticism – as I know myself.

Jim Telfer asked me to share some of the things that I had learned along the way in the front row with Smith one day at Murrayfield. We spent an hour or so exploring the dark arts of the front row and particularly, how you could make your size work to your advantage over larger opponents.

I don’t think there was anything I shared that Smith didn’t already know. And clearly Telfer knew that Smith had more than enough about him when he was selected to face the gargantuan Springbok front row in the 1997 Lions series.

The Scotsman earned himself the nickname “The silent assassin” on that tour. He was a man of few words, but you know that he earned the respect of everyone through his actions rather than his words as truly great players do.

He was justly inducted into Scottish Rugby’s Hall of Fame only recently – it is only surprising that it took this long.

Smith tackled his illness as he played his rugby – full on and not shirking from the challenge.

That Tom passed on so young is truly a tragedy – the game will be poorer without him around.

‘ Tom Smith – the game will be poorer without him around