Sydney Edward John Smart (20 February 1888 – 25 January 1969) was an English 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. The son of a labourer, Smart was born and raised in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

, where he attended Deacon's School. Smart played his rugby primarily as a number eight and had a quick rise to representative rugby, following his

Gloucester RFC Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was formed in 1873 and since 1891 has played its home matches ...

debut in 1911. He appeared for Gloucestershire during his first season and in 1913 gained the first of his 12

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 ...

caps when he played against the Springboks at Twickenham. A member of England's 1913 and 1914 Five Nations grand slam-winning sides, Smart's career was then put on hold due to his wartime service. An officer in the

Gloucestershire Regiment The Gloucestershire Regiment, commonly referred to as the Glosters, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 until 1994. It traced its origins to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot, which was raised in 1694 and later became the ...

, Smart saw active service in France and was twice wounded. Smart returned to rugby briefly after the war, gaining a further three England caps in 1920. He captained Gloucester in 1921-22 and after one more season largely retired from the sport, making only sporadic club appearances thereafter.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smart, Sid 1888 births 1969 deaths English rugby union players England international rugby union players Gloucester Rugby players Gloucestershire County RFU players Rugby union number eights Rugby union players from Gloucester Gloucestershire Regiment officers British Army personnel of World War I 20th-century English sportsmen

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