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Tom Smith

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URL: http://www.leaguerugby.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=19168
Printed Date: 06 Nov 2024 at 11:26
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Topic: Tom Smith
Posted By: KnightsBoy
Subject: Tom Smith
Date Posted: 07 Apr 2022 at 06:34
Sad news, 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/61014702" rel="nofollow - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/61014702


Replies:
Posted By: All the Way
Date Posted: 07 Apr 2022 at 08:17
Very sad news. Only got to see him play once, when Saints were in the equivalent of the Championship. But I will always remember him for '97 Lions Tour. He made a huge impact at scrumtime and with his ball carrying and mobility in the loose.
RIP

Posted By: Steve@Mose
Date Posted: 07 Apr 2022 at 10:28
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/61018335" rel="nofollow - 'Scotland's quiet colossus never more extraordinary than in face of terminal illness'

Quote
Tom Smith was 5ft 10in tall, but when talking to those who knew him and who played with him you would hear of a man who was somewhere closer to 10ft 5in tall.

A quiet colossus, a revolutionary in new-age propping in the late 1990s, quite possibly the greatest Scottish rugby player of the professional era and, in the words of a fellow front-row immortal Jason Leonard, one of the finest Lions in history.

The news of his passing on Wednesday at the sickeningly young age of 50 shocked the world of rugby. It's not that people expected him to overcome the horrible cruelty of his 2019 colon cancer diagnosis, but that was the dearest wish and it was given hope when he appeared at Murrayfield last autumn.

When bringing out the match ball on the day Scotland played South Africa, Smith gave the impression of a man who could pull off the greatest miracle. Flanked by his kids, it was easier to suspend reality and conclude that he had years left in him, not months.

What dignity and strength he had that day - and every day. What class.


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