Stephen James Smith (born 18 July 1959 in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Northern Ireland) is a former

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. He played as a hooker. He had 25 caps for Ireland, from 1988 to 1993, scoring 2 tries, 8 points in aggregate. He was selected for the

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup () was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Six Nations Championship, Five Na ...

, playing three games and was a replacement called out for the inaugural World Cup in New Zealand/Australia in 1987. Smith played for 5 seasons at the Five Nations, in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993. In 1988 represented the Barbarians against the touring Wallabies at Cardiff making his full debut for Ireland in the same year. In 1989 he toured Australia with the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

and in the same year represented an International Touring XV as part of the South African Rugby Union centenary celebrations. Also in 1989 represented the Home Nations against France in Paris as part of the 200th anniversary celebrations of the French Revolution. At the time played club rugby for Ballymena R.F.C. whom he represented from 1978 to 1993 and his province Ulster debut in 1981.

External links

Steve Smith International Statistics
1959 births Living people Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Rugby union hookers Ballymena R.F.C. players Ulster Rugby players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Ireland Rugby union players from Belfast 1987 Rugby World Cup players 1991 Rugby World Cup players {{Ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub