Scotland and British & Irish Lions back-rower Ken Smith has passed away at the age of 96.
Born in Edinburgh, Smith represented Scotland between 1957 and 1961 earning selection for The British & Irish Lions Tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1959.
And after a stellar playing career, he went onto become a leading administrator in the game, both in Scotland and globally.
Smith played a season for Watsonians but it was at Kelso, in the Scottish Borders, that he made his name, earning the first of his 18 Scotland caps in 1957.
Two years later, he earned selection for the Lions Tour of Australia and New Zealand, one of five Scots who toured in the squad captained by Ronnie Dawson.
On that Tour, Smith made 17 appearances for the Lions, including featuring in four of the Test matches.
He scored the final try of the 17-6 win over the Wallabies in the first Test, while his final appearance came in Canada against British Columbia.
After returning and playing for a further two seasons for Scotland, Smith then went onto play an influential role as an administrator.
He served as tour manager for Scotland when they travelled to New Zealand in 1981 before serving as chairman of World Rugby (then known as the IRB) in 1990/91.
Smith then became president of the Scottish Rugby Union in 1994/95 and was made a CBE during that time.
The British & Irish Lions send sincere condolences to all of Smith’s family and friends.
