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 prop - hailed as the Scots' greatest player of the professional era' - passed away after fighting colorectal cancer since 2019.
Smith was in the Lions' famous 1997 side that won 2-1 in South Africa after three epic battles and in the 2-1 series losers in Australia three years later.
That made the loosehead 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.
Read more rugby union stories
And Lions' 1997 coach Sir Ian McGeechan described him as the 'greatest Scotland player of the professional era'.
quote ex-Lions' assistant boss Jim Telfer as saying: "He was a rugby player first and a prop second.
“He was never compromised when he had the ball in his hands. His skill was the thing I remember with Tom.
“You could play a different kind of game when he was in the team.
Most read in Rugby Union
“He could be a link player but was still a solid servant in the scrums and lineouts.
"He was always a very good scrummager – he was the ideal shape because he had the bulk as well.”
Smith became an ambassador for bowel cancer charity 40tude, boosting awareness and funding for research.