Ronald Cove-Smith (26 November 1899 – 9 March 1988) was an physician and sportsman. He represented Old Merchant Taylors and

King's College Hospital RFC King's College Hospital RFC is an open rugby union club founded in the 19th century as a football club whose representatives were made up of medics from King's College Hospital. In its original form it was one of the twenty-one founding members ...

. Internationally he represented the England national rugby union team in 29 tests (1921–1929) (seven as captain) and also captained the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

in four tests on the

1924 British Lions tour to South Africa The 1924 British Isles tour to South Africa was the tenth tour by a British Isles team and the fifth to South Africa. The tour is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention was not adopted until 195 ...

as a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

. He finished on the winning side in 22 of his 29 England matches. He was commissioned in the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

in 1918–1919. In addition to rugby he excelled at swimming and water-polo, winning half-blues in each.

Rugby career

Cove-Smith was a talented schoolboy player at Merchant Taylors School, and carried that talent through to university, playing in three Varsity Matches for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

from 1919 to 1921, winning his sporting 'Blue'. He led the

, losing three of the four tests and drawing one. As captain, he led England to the 1928 Grand Slam and he was inducted onto the World Rugby Museum Wall of Fame in 2001. He also led a distinguished medical career and served as a vice-president of the British Medical Association.

Personal life

In 1933, he married Florence Margaret Harris. Together, they had three children: Rona Cove-Smith (now Blythe), Penelope Cove-Smith (now Newell-Price) and John Rodney Cove-Smith. Penelope and Rodney followed in their father's footsteps by reading medicine and Rona followed her mother in becoming a nurse, later co-authoring ''Guidelines for Clinical Nursing Practices: Related to a Nursing Model''.Blythe, Rona, McCall, Janice M., Jamieson, Elizabeth (1988) ''Guidelines for Clinical Nursing Practices: Related to a Nursing Model''. Churchill Livingstone.

References

External links

The English Rugby Museum

England Rugby Photo Store

The Royal College of Physicians
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cove-Smith, Ronald 1899 births 1988 deaths 20th-century English medical doctors Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players England international rugby union players English rugby union players Middlesex County RFU players People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Edmonton, London