Ian Smith

Ian Richard Smith (born 16 March 1965) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. He is now a rugby union coach.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

He was educated at the Sir Thomas Rich's School in Longlevens. He went on to play for Gloucester. He formerly played as a flanker. Smith made his senior debut aged 18 and by 1996 had played more than 350 games for them.

Provincial career

He played for the Scottish Exiles district in the Scottish Inter-District Championship. Smith stated: "I always wanted to play for Scotland, from the days of watching the Five Nations sat on my grandfather’s knee."

International career

He represented England 'B' against Spain in 1989. He also qualified for Scotland through his paternal grandparents and Ian McGeechan persuaded him to play for Scotland.

He made his full test debut for Scotland against England at Murrayfield on 18 January 1992.

In 2011 he went on to a coaching role with the Georgia national rugby union team. He was appointed interim and later effective head coach of Portugal going into the World Rugby Nations Cup in 2016.

Outside of rugby union

He worked as a civil engineer.