Obituary: Ken Smith CBE

George Kenneth Smith won 18 caps for Scotland out of his beloved Kelso club between 1957 and 1961, and he played in 17 matches on the 1959 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, New Zealand and Canada. He also represented the Barbarians on four occasions between 1960 and 1961.

On that Lions tour, Smith scored the final try in their 17-6 first Test victory over Australia in Brisbane and was praised in contemporary newspaper reports for his “prominence in covering and backing-up in open play.”

He had begun the tour with a brace of tries in a win against Victoria in Melbourne.  In all he played in four Test matches on that tour, two v Australia and two v New Zealand.

Born in Edinburgh on 2 June 1929 – “ I see my date of birth appears in some quarters as 1931, no, I’m even older than that!” he noted in a good-natured email exchange with your correspondent – Smith certainly had the charm of a “city slicker”.

But it was his immense agricultural strength, honed in the challenging environments of Borders hill farms which accelerated his epic rugby journey.

Educated at George Watson’s College in Edinburgh, Smith played for the school first XV and was also 220 and 880 yards champion in athletics. He enjoyed a season for Watsonians before his agricultural studies took him to Oklahoma University.

He had a year as a shepherd at Kelsocleuch in the Cheviot Hills, and it was while there that he began his life-long connection with the Kelso club that produced such stellar back-row talent as, for example, Charlie Stewart, John Jeffrey, Eric Paxton and Adam Roxburgh.

In 1950, Smith’s family purchased Watherston farm in Galawater, an upland farm, where Smith maintained you needed one long leg and one short leg to traverse the terrain!

He captained the Kelso club in the 1953-54 season and recovered from a neck injury to advance towards international honours.

In 1957, the year of his first cap – when he was a late call-up for the injured Jim Greenwood – Smith’s family secured the Ormiston Mains farm near Kelso, and he was to spend so many happy years there.

When he hung up his boots, Ken was quickly a natural in rugby administration whether with club, district, country, or the global governing body, the IRB, the forerunner to World Rugby.

He was president of the Kelso club between 1975 and 1977, fulfilling that role during their centenary season of 1976-77.

In 1981, he managed Scotland’s eight match tour to New Zealand – the sojourn that shrewd judges reckoned planted the seeds for Scotland’s 1984 Grand Slam.

He maintained his affinity with New Zealand, acting as liaison officer on the All Blacks 1983 tour to Scotland and England, including the superb Murrayfield match, which ended in a 25-all draw.

Smith had joined the SRU General Committee for the first time as a South representative in 1978-79.

Smith was chair of the IRB in 1990-91, at a time when the move towards a professional game was gathering momentum, eventually reached in Paris in 1995 when the game was declared “open.”

Smith carried out his role as chair with considerable diplomacy and aplomb and whatever the differing views of those advocating the retention of rugby’s amateur ethos versus those who saw an inevitability that the game would have to turn professional and sought to remove any impediment to that, he steered a course, primarily pragmatic, which avoided any schism.

Pictured: Ken Smith is (as you look at the picture) immediately to the left of the Princess Royal. 

He was President of the SRU in the 1994/95 season, which saw the redeveloped all-seater Murrayfield stadium, Scotland’s biggest, officially opened by the Union’s Patron, the Princess Royal, and saw Scotland head to Twickenham seeking a Grand Slam after Murrayfield victories against Ireland and Wales and the quite brilliant win at the Parc des Princes against France, crowned by the wonderful “Toony flip” pass from Gregor Townsend to Gavin Hastings.

He was made a CBE in June 1995.

Scottish Rugby extends its sincere and heartfelt condolences to Ken Smith’s family and many friends.

The funeral is on Tuesday 17 March at 12noon in St Andrews Church, Belmont Place, Kelso, TD5 7JB, followed by refreshments at Kelso Rugby Club.