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(CNN)<\/cite>Former Scotland and Britain and Ireland rugby international Tom Smith has died aged 50 after being diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer in 2019.<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (CNN)Former Scotland and Britain and Ireland rugby international Tom Smith has died aged 50 after being diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer in 2019. During his career, Smith won 61 caps for his country and six caps for the Lions’ invitation team, playing a key role in Scotland’s 1999 Five Nations Championship and in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"\nDuring his career, Smith won 61 caps for his country and six caps for the Lions’ invitation team, playing a key role in Scotland’s 1999 Five Nations Championship and in the Lions’ 1997 series victory in South Africa. <\/p>\nScottish Rugby tweeted on Wednesday: “Tom Smith, the base of Scotland and the Lions, sadly passed away today at the age of 50. A hugely respected player, Tom will be greatly missed by everyone involved with rugby in Scotland and throughout the game. All of our thoughts are with Tom’s family and friends at this time.”<\/p>\nSmith’s former Lions manager Sir Ian McGeechan once described him as “the greatest Scottish player of the professional era”. In fact, he was the last Scot to start a Lions Test match until the 2021 Lions Tour, having featured in six consecutive Tests in 1997 and 2001. <\/p>\nOne of the first “modern props” to raise expectations for the position, Smith was known for his powerful scrimmage, footballing ability and ball-in-hand skills. His achievements were recognized with induction into the Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame in November 2021. <\/p>\nSmith’s club career began in 1996 with the Caledonian Reds before moving on to Glasgow Warriors, CA Brive and most notably Northampton Saints, for whom he made 174 appearances.<\/p>\nAfter retiring, Smith stayed in the sport. He was appointed striker coach at Edinburgh in 2009, joined Lyon in the same capacity three years later and joined Doncaster Knights as head coach in 2019.<\/p>\nSmith retired from rugby following his diagnosis and became an ambassador for colon cancer charity 40tude. <\/p>\n