Tommy Smyth (rugby union)

Thomas Smyth (1 December 1884 – 19 May 1928) was an Irish international, rugby union prop forward who played club rugby for Newport and Malone and invitational rugby with the Barbarians. He won fourteen caps for Ireland and was selected to captain the British Isles 1910 tour of South Africa, and played in two of the test games.

Tommy Smyth

Birth name	Tommy Smyth
Date of birth	(1884-12-01)1 December 1884
Place of birth	Belfast, Ireland
Date of death	19 May 1928(1928-05-19) (aged 43)
Place of death	Paddington, England
School	Ballymena Academy
Occupation(s)	Doctor
Rugby union career
Position(s) Prop Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) ?-1908 Malone RFC () 1908-1910 Newport RFC () 1910-? Malone RFC () 1910-1911 Barbarian F.C. () International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1908-1912 Ireland 14 (6) 1910 British Isles 2 (0)

Rugby career

Smyth first played for Ireland in 1908, in the Home Nations Championship against England at Richmond's Athletic Ground. Although Ireland lost the match 13-3 Smyth was back for the next game of the tournament against Scotland. With the match played at Lansdowne Road, the Irish beat the Scottish team in a game which was notable as the last game for Scotland's David Bedell-Sivright, the British Isle's captain of the 1904 campaign to Australia and New Zealand. Smyth played out the 1909 and 1910 Championships and scored his first international try in the 1910 game against France. Smyth's next and last score for his country was in a 3–0 win at Lansdowne road versus England, when the Harlequin centre Frank Stoop's poor clearing kick led to Smyth scoring the only points of the game when he took the ball over the line for a try.

International matches played

Ireland

• England 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912
• France 1910
• Scotland 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911
• Wales 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911

British Isles

• South Africa 1910, 1910