Colin Edward Smart (born 5 March 1950) is a former international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player, who played as a

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

, from

Highbury Highbury is an area of North London, England, in the London Borough of Islington. Highbury Manor Highbury was once owned by Ranulf, brother of Ilger, and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor hou ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Personal life

Smart was educated at

The Skinners' School The Skinners' School (formally The Skinners' Company's Middle School for Boys and commonly known as Skinners'), is a British Grammar School with Academy (English school), academy status for boys located in the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent ...

Royal Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sand ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. From there he attended Cardiff College of Education and became a teacher at

Hartridge High School Llanwern High School is a secondary school near Llanwern, on the eastern edge of Newport, Wales. The school has a capacity for 1450 pupils. History Previously known as Hartridge High School, it changed its name in 2012 to Llanwern High School, ...

in Newport. He is married.

Newport RFC

After starting his playing career captaining

Tunbridge Wells RFC Tunbridge Wells RFC is an English Rugby union club that plays in Regional 1 South Central from Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. History Tunbridge Wells RFC was officially formed as Old Skinners RFC in 1931 as a rugby union club for forme ...

, Smart moved to

Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, Wales. They presently play in the Super Rygbi Cymru. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on the east bank of the River Usk. Ever ...

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.The Times Newspaper (1979-02-22) 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. 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. 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. Smart continued playing for Newport until his retirement from rugby. He played for Newport against the touring

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

in 1982, finally stepping down from both international and club rugby at the end of the season in 1983.

International career

Wales or England?

Having previously played for both the Wales Student team, and the

Under-23 side, Smart's international career could have taken him in either direction. Smart was initially offered a chance to play for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 1974. This was a Welsh squad that included many of the players,

J. P. R. Williams John Peter Rhys Williams (2 March 1949 – 8 January 2024) was a Welsh rugby union player who represented Wales in international rugby during their Golden Era in the 1970s. He became known universally as J.P.R. Williams (or sometimes just as ...

Gareth Edwards Gareth Edwards may refer to: *Gareth Edwards (Berkshire cricketer) (born 1973), English cricketer *Gareth Edwards (filmmaker) (born 1975), British filmmaker *Gareth Edwards (producer) (born 1965), British radio and television writer and producer *Ga ...

Phil Bennett Philip Bennett (24 October 1948 – 12 June 2022) was a Welsh rugby union player who played as a fly-half for Llanelli RFC and the Wales national rugby union team, Wales national team. He began his career in 1966, and a year later he had taken ...

, central to the only

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

team to have ever defeated the

at home in 1971. He turned down the invitation, deciding instead to accept his first trial for the

the following month. While he was not selected for England on this occasion, Smart was selected by London Counties to play against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, in November 1975. Smart was finally called up to the full England team in 1979, making his debut at

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...

against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He then went on to appear 17 times for England, making his last appearance for England at

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium (, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for the Aviva Stadium on ...

against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in 1983.

1979 Far East Tour

Following his debut in the

Five Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament contes ...

, Smart was selected for England's Far East Tour in May, 1979 under the captaincy of

Bill Beaumont Sir William Blackledge Beaumont (born 9 March 1952) is an English former rugby union player, and was captain of the England rugby union team, earning 34 caps. His greatest moment as captain was the unexpected 1980 Grand Slam win. He played as a ...

. He played in two of the Test matches, defeating Japan 21:19 in Osaka, and Fiji 29:7 in Suva. It was during the Japanese leg of this tour, which coincided with one of the three great

Sumo Wrestling is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a '' rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring ('' dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by ...

festivals of the year, that his team-mate John Scott first named Colin "Sumo" Smart and his younger, regular, front row 'tight-head' partner Gary Pearce "Baby Sumo", nicknames that stuck within the England camp for the rest of their careers.

1981 Five Nations Championship The 1981 Five Nations Championship was the 52nd series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 87th series of the northern hemisphere rugby union champion ...

Smart missed out on the England team's victorious 1980 Grand Slam, his number one jersey being taken by the three-time British Lions forward Fran Cotton. However, when Fran Cotton retired, Smart was recalled to the

team. He played in three of the

1981 Five Nations Championship The 1981 Five Nations Championship was the 52nd series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 87th series of the northern hemisphere rugby union champion ...

games alongside Phil Blakeway at tighthead and Peter Wheeler at hooker, with England winning against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

, before losing to

in the final match at

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

. The French, under the captaincy of

Jean-Pierre Rives Jean-Pierre Rives (born 31 December 1952) is a French former rugby union player and visual artist. "A cult figure in France", according to the ''BBC'', he came to epitomise the team's spirit and "ultra-committed, guts-and-glory style of play".

and featuring a young

Serge Blanco Serge Blanco (born 31 August 1958) is a former rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is ...

in his first international season, won 16 to 12, to complete the Grand Slam.

1981 Argentina Tour

With Phil Blakeway and Peter Wheeler unable to travel, Smart resumed his front row partnership with Gary Pearce on the 1981 tour to Argentina, with the rooky Steve Mills at hooker. 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.

1982 Five Nations Championship

Smart started all four games in the 1982 Five Nations Championship with a draw against

, a narrow loss against

, and wins against

and

leaving England as runners-up to Ireland. Later in the year Smart also played in the 60:19 win over the

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

touring side at

"The Aftershave Incident"

Smart is remembered for the infamous "Aftershave Incident" in 1982. While in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, after beating

in the Five Nations, England teammate

Maurice Colclough Maurice John Colclough (2 September 1953 – 27 January 2006) was an international rugby union player. He was selected for the 1980 British Lions tour to South Africa and the 1983 British Lions tour to New Zealand, playing in all four interna ...

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. This made him very ill and he was required to go to hospital to have his

stomach pump Gastric lavage, also commonly called stomach pumping or gastric irrigation or gastric suction, is the process of cleaning out the contents of the stomach using a tube. Since its first recorded use in the early 19th century, it has become one of the ...

ed. The incident was alluded to a month later, after England had beaten Wales, by Steve Smith who quipped: "The aftershave will sure taste good tonight!"

1983 Five Nations Championship The 1983 Five Nations Championship was the 54th series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the t ...

As in 1982 Smart played every minute of the Five Nations' matches

participated in, though it ended up being a far less successful Championship than the previous four years.

lost to

and

, and only managed a draw against

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smart, Colin 1950 births Living people Alumni of Cardiff Metropolitan University England international rugby union players English rugby union players People educated at The Skinners' School People from Highbury Rugby union players from the London Borough of Islington Rugby union props Schoolteachers from London Newport RFC players London Counties rugby union players 20th-century English sportsmen