Tom Smith tribute planned by Edinburgh Rugby as Mike Blair remembers ‘incredibly well respected player and man’

Tom Smith was a man of few words but what he had to say was invariably worth listening to and Mike Blair spoke movingly yesterday about the loss of his former team-mate.

Smith’s death at the age of 50 prompted an outpouring of tributes and testimonials for an outstanding rugby player whose human qualities matched his abilities on the field.

Blair, who broke into the national side when the prop was one of the senior pros, was clearly upset as he remembered a player described by Sir Ian McGeechan as “the greatest Scotland player of the professional era”.

“You can see through the tributes on social media about the type of character he was,” said the Edinburgh coach. “Some of it is about the quality of the player, but a lot of it is about the quality of the man.

“If he spoke, it was generally something important or passionate, or something that had frustrated him. He was an incredibly well respected player and man, and great around his family.”

Edinburgh Rugby will hold a minute’s applause in memory of Smith ahead of their European Challenge Cup match against Pau on Friday night. The 61-times capped forward had a spell coaching Edinburgh’s pack, initially under Rob Moffat, and Stuart McInally spoke to the squad on Thursday about Smith’s legacy.

“Stuart addressed the guys this morning and spoke really well about the impact Tom had and we felt it was appropriate as a club to mark that,” continued Blair.

“Personally, I’m so sad to hear the news. He was someone I played with and we kept in touch over text messages. I knew a couple of weeks ago that he was struggling and sent him a message and he was back to me within two minutes, thinking of other people. It’s a big loss.”

Smith was diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer in