 Ronald Cove-Smith in 1933 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1899-11-26)26 November 1899 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Edmonton, London,England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 9 March 1988(1988-03-09) (aged 88) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Brighton, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Merchant Taylors' School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Doctor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ronald Cove-Smith (26 November 1899 – 9 March 1988) was a physician and sportsman. He represented Old Merchant Taylors andKing's College Hospital RFC. Internationally he represented theEngland national rugby union team in 29 tests (1921–1929) (seven as captain) and also captained theBritish Isles in four tests on the1924 British Lions tour to South Africa as alock. He finished on the winning side in 22 of his 29 England matches. He was commissioned in theGrenadier Guards in 1918–1919. In addition to rugby he excelled at swimming and water-polo, winninghalf-blues in each.[1]
Cove-Smith was a talented schoolboy player at Merchant Taylors School, and carried that talent through to university, playing in threeVarsity Matches forCambridge University from 1919 to 1921, winning his sporting 'Blue'.[2] He led the1924 British Lions tour to South Africa, losing three of the four tests and drawing one. As captain, he led England to the 1928 Grand Slam and he was inducted onto theWorld Rugby Museum Wall of Fame[3] in 2001.
He also led a distinguished medical career and served as a vice-president of theBritish Medical Association.
In 1933, he married Florence Margaret Harris.[4] Together, they had three children: Rona Cove-Smith (now Blythe), Penelope Cove-Smith (now Newell-Price) and JohnRodney Cove-Smith. Penelope and Rodney followed in their father's footsteps by reading medicine and Rona followed her mother in becoming a nurse, later co-authoringGuidelines for Clinical Nursing Practices: Related to a Nursing Model.[5]
| Sporting positions | ||
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| Preceded by | England national rugby union team captain 1928 – February 1929 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | British Lions captain 1924 | Succeeded by |