Daniel Ward-Smith (born 2 January 1978) is a former New Zealand-born English

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who played at number eight for Bristol &

London Wasps Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...

. He also covered flanker and second row, which made him a useful forward to have in the Wasps squad. Ward-Smith was born in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

but spent his early childhood in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. He moved back to his hometown with his family when he was 13. After attending both

Awatapu College Awatapu College is a State Co-Educational Secondary School in Awapuni, Palmerston North, New Zealand. About the School Geography Awatapu College is located in West End, a suburb of Palmerston North, at the bend of Botanical Road. The area kno ...

and Waiopehu College he studied at

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

Career

New Zealand

Ward-Smith has played for Manawatu under-19s and played all twelve provincial games for Manawatu in 1999. Ward-Smith was selected in the NPC XV for that year. He made two appearances representing the New Zealand Maori Colts, with the aim of achieving a

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

contract with the

Wellington Hurricanes The Hurricanes ( ; formerly the Wellington Hurricanes) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in Super Rugby. The Hurricanes were formed to represent the lower North Island, including the East Coast, H ...

. However Ward-Smith eventually pursued a Rugby Career in the UK due to having dual Nationality.

England

Ward-Smith travelled to the UK on a short term contract with Plymouth Albion. While playing rugby in a local cup tie in Devon he suffered an ankle ligament injury which ended thoughts of an immediate return to a contract in pro rugby back in New Zealand. As a result,

Plymouth Albion Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club who play in Plymouth, England. The present club was founded in 1920 from a merger between Plymouth RFC (founded 1876) and Devonport Albion RFC (founded 1876). Since 2003 they have pl ...

gave Ward-Smith the offer of rugby in tier 4 of the English club game and in 2000-01 he was part of the all conquering Albion team under the tutelage of

Graham Dawe Richard Graham Reed Dawe (born 4 September 1959 in Tavistock) is a former English rugby union footballer and the former coach of Plymouth Albion. He played for Bath Rugby, Sale Sharks, Plymouth Albion and Launceston. Dawe earned 5 caps f ...

that took the league title with a perfect record of 26 wins out of 26, with Ward-Smith finishing as joint top try scorer in the division with 20 tries. A second successive promotion followed at Albion during the 2001-02 season where the club finished second to

Orrell Orrell may refer to: *Orrell, Greater Manchester, a district of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan **Orrell (ward), an electoral ward of the Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council *Orrell, Merseyside, an urban area east of Bootle, in the Metropolitan Bo ...

with Ward-Smith again becoming top try scorer in the division, this time with 23 tries. Having helped Plymouth achieve stability in tier 2 in a spell in which he scored almost 100 tries, Ward-Smith caught the eye of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, which he signed for the 2005-6 campaign and looked to make a huge impression in his first season in the Premiership. He was selected for

England 'A' England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

in his first season at

, making his debut against Ireland A. In his second season at the club he was called up to the 30-man

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

training squad for the

Autumn Internationals The autumn internationals, November internationals, end-of-year tests, and spring internationals/tour for Australia and New Zealand, are men's rugby union Test matches that are contested around November each year. It is organised by World Rugby. Te ...

. He missed out on a place in the 2007 England World Cup squad due to a ruptured patella tendon after being part of the initial training squad. Dan was named in The Guinness Premiership Team of the Year for the 2006-2007 season as Bristol finished third. After a promising start to the 2007–08 season with Bristol he broke his hand and missed out on selection for the

2008 Six Nations The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, the 114th series of the international championship. Fifteen ...

squad. It was announced on 24 March 2009 that he had signed a 4-year deal with

. On 7 July 2009; Ward-Smith was selected for the

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

squad. He had been selected for the 2010 tour to the southern hemisphere. However he did not play in the Test Matches but made appearances in the 4 non test fixtures. Notably Dan featured against The Barbarians at Twickenham and was the first person of Maori heritage to play against NZ Maori when he appeared for England in Napier in a fixture that celebrated 100 years of NZ Maori Rugby.

Retirement

In August 2011 he announced immediate retirement from the game due to medical advice.

Honours

Plymouth Albion * National Division 3 South champions: 2000-01 *National Division 3 South (joint) top try scorer (20 tries): 2000-01 *

National Division 2 National Division 2 is the fourth tier of rugby league in France, below the National Division 1. The season runs from September to April. The Division is split into 5 regional leagues, Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrenees, Aquitaine, Ile de France ...

top try scorer (23 tries): 2001-02 International/Representative *Represented New Zealand Maori Colts *Represented

References

External links

England profile

Bristol profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward-Smith, Dan 1978 births Living people English rugby union players Bristol Bears players Wasps RFC players Rugby union number eights Massey University alumni Plymouth Albion R.F.C. players New Zealand rugby union players Manawatu rugby union players Rugby union players from Palmerston North