| Birth name | Colin Edward Smart | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1950-03-05)5 March 1950 (age 75) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | London,England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | The Skinners' School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Cardiff College of Education | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Teacher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Colin Edward Smart (born 5 March 1950) is a former internationalrugby union player, who played as aprop, fromHighbury,London,England.[1]
Smart was educated atThe Skinners' School inRoyal Tunbridge Wells,Kent. From there he attendedCardiff College of Education and became a teacher atHartridge High School inNewport.[2] He is married.[3]
After starting his playing career captainingTunbridge Wells RFC,[4] Smart moved toNewport RFC in 1973. He was made captain in 1975, the club's centenary year, only the third time an Englishman had captained the club in its hundred-year history.[5] Newport maintained their challenge for the Welsh Unofficial Championship right up to the end of the 1975–76 season only to lose out to Pontypridd. They also lost narrowly to Australia in January by 13–7. Smart led from the front, playing in 47 of the 49 games.[6]
During the 1976–77 season, Newport won the Cardiff Centenary Sevens beating the Barbarians in the final. Only 2 defeats from 22 matches saw Newport head the Welsh Unofficial Championship, however, with a number of defeats in the second half of the season Newport had to be content with the runners-up position for the second season running. However, on 30 April 1977, Newport defeated rivals Cardiff in their Welsh Cup Final, and Smart lifted the cup at Cardiff Arms Park.[7]
In the 1977–78 season, Smart led Newport to the Welsh Cup Final for the second year running but Newport lost 13–9 to Swansea at Cardiff Arms Park. Smart stepped down as captain after the match.[8]
Smart continued playing for Newport until his retirement from rugby. He played for Newport against the touringAll Blacks in 1982,[9] finally stepping down from both international and club rugby at the end of the season in 1983.
Having previously played for both the Wales Student team, and theEngland Under-23 side, Smart's international career could have taken him in either direction.[10] Smart was initially offered a chance to play forWales againstNew Zealand in 1974. This was a Welsh squad that included many of the players,J. P. R. Williams,Gareth Edwards,Phil Bennett, central to the onlyBritish and Irish Lions team to have ever defeated theAll Blacks at home in 1971.[11] He turned down the invitation,[12] deciding instead to accept his first trial for theEngland the following month.[13] While he was not selected for England on this occasion, Smart was selected by London Counties to play againstAustralia, in November 1975.[5] Smart was finally called up to the full England team in 1979, making his debut atTwickenham Stadium againstFrance. He then went on to appear 17 times for England, making his last appearance for England atLansdowne Road againstIreland in 1983.[1]
Following his debut in theFive Nations Championship, Smart was selected for England's Far East Tour in May, 1979 under the captaincy ofBill Beaumont.[14] He played in two of the Test matches, defeating Japan 21:19 in Osaka, and Fiji 29:7 in Suva.[15] It was during the Japanese leg of this tour, which coincided with one of the three greatSumo Wrestling festivals of the year, that his team-mate John Scott first named Colin "Sumo" Smart and his younger, regular, front row 'tight-head' partnerGary Pearce "Baby Sumo", nicknames that stuck within the England camp for the rest of their careers.[16]
Smart missed out on the England team's victorious 1980Grand Slam, his number one jersey being taken by the three-timeBritish Lions forwardFran Cotton. However, when Fran Cotton retired, Smart was recalled to theEngland team.[17] He played in three of the1981 Five Nations Championship games alongsidePhil Blakeway at tighthead andPeter Wheeler at hooker, with England winning againstScotland andWales, before losing toFrance in the final match atTwickenham. The French, under the captaincy ofJean-Pierre Rives and featuring a youngSerge Blanco in his first international season, won 16 to 12, to complete theGrand Slam.[18]
WithPhil Blakeway andPeter Wheeler unable to travel, Smart resumed his front row partnership withGary Pearce on the 1981 tour to Argentina, with the rookySteve Mills at hooker.[19] This front row partnership proved successful as England carried the test series, following a 19:19 draw with a 12:6 win in the deciding match.[18]
Smart started all four games in the1982 Five Nations Championship with a draw againstScotland, a narrow loss againstIreland, and wins againstFrance andWales leaving England as runners-up to Ireland. Later in the year Smart also played in the 60:19 win over theFiji touring side atTwickenham.
Smart is remembered for the infamous "Aftershave Incident" in 1982. While inParis, after beatingFrance in theFive Nations, England teammateMaurice Colclough emptied a bottle of free aftershave from the after-match meal, filled it with wine, and drank from it. Thinking that Colclough had drunk the aftershave and not wanting to appear upstaged by his teammate, Smart drank his bottle of aftershave.[20] This made him very ill and he was required to go to hospital to have hisstomach pumped.[20] The incident was alluded to a month later, after England had beaten Wales, bySteve Smith who quipped: "The aftershave will sure taste good tonight!"[21]
As in 1982 Smart played every minute of the Five Nations' matchesEngland participated in, though it ended up being a far less successful Championship than the previous four years.England lost toFrance,Scotland andIreland, and only managed a draw againstWales.