They once walked out together to face the fearsome challenge of rugby at the highest level.
Tomorrow, Gregor Townsend will stand at the foot of a mountain range in Japan with four peaks to climb and a challenge to be accepted and defeated. Tom Smith, his friend and companion down decades of rugby, will be there only in his considerable spirit.
‘We go back to 1989 as team-mates,‘ says Townsend, Scotland head coach. ‘It really is quite unusual for two lads to play in the Scotland Schools team together and then go on to play in the same Lions team.’
It is almost impossibly poignant to talk to Townsend about Smith. There is tragedy at the heart of the conversation. The former Scotland prop died died in April 2022 from colon cancer at the age of 50. This bleak sentence, though, cannot fully measure the depth of the loss to his wife, his three children, and to his friends and the wider rugby world.
His life must be celebrated, though, because Smith, for all his innate quietness, was capable of the spectacular private moments. He could sing as part of his speech at the formal dinner after an international match. He could draw outraged comment from opponents because of his revolutionary style of play as a prop. He could be, and consistently was, a reliable team-mate and loyal friend.
Townsend, joined by his wife, Claire, Smith’s widow Zoe, and 11 other amateur trekkers, will set out tomorrow to scale four peaks in four days on the Ginza Ridge in the northern Japanese Alps.
The group will start out at 4am each morning to tackle Mount Tsubakuro, Mount Otensho, Mount Jonen and Mount Chogatake. The challenge has been organised by colon cancer charity 40tude, of which Smith was patron, and aims to raise £100,000 to establish the Tom Smith Screening Fund, which will pay for colon cancer screening in younger people.
The former Lion is never far from the thoughts of Townsend, who scaled imposing sporting mountains with his mate. ‘We played together with Brive and with Scotland and the Lions,’ says Townsend.
There are certain battles that not only frank friendships but forge a respect that carries down the ages. On June 21, 1997, Townsend stepped onto the field at Newland Park in Cape Town to face South Africa. ‘They were a mighty team,’ says Townsend. The pre-match analysis had suggested the Springbok pack would consume the Lions. The early encounters seemed to be a physical realisation of this theory.
‘In those days you could set for a scrum further away and the Springboks engaged with ferocious speed,’ says Townsend. ‘The Lions scrum was rocked at first. But they worked it out. Tom was strong, but he was clever too.’
With Smith, Keith Wood and Paul Wallace defusing the Springboks’ biggest weapon, the Lions went on to take the series, winning the match and the subsequent encounter in Durban.
Smith, who had been something of a surprise pick for the tour, had immediately made his name at the pinnacle of world rugby. He went on to play in six consecutive matches for the Lions.
‘That was the game where he showed what he was capable of to the whole world,’ says Townsend in Tokyo, the memories of Cape Town 1997 rushing back. ‘He surprised everybody. He had only won a couple of Scotland caps at the time so to win a place on a Lions tour then start in the first Test was a major challenge.’
Quietly, resolutely but inexorably, Smith prevailed. ‘His resilience as a rugby player was shown that day,’ says Townsend. ‘He carried it on throughout this career. But that strength was also shown in his fight against cancer. He always kept a positive mindset. He wanted his children to see him in a good place. He had an unwavering combination of stoicism, toughness, positivity, on and off the field. He was a strong person, a tough man.’
Three years ago, on another mountain expedition, this time in aid of Doddie Weir’s charity, Townsend spoke from Morocco via video call to his friend. ‘Tom was not in a good place then,’ he says. ‘But he was still positive.’ He was still capable, too, of expressing delight and in stressing the importance of having fun.
‘These climbs will be difficult in terms of the physical demands,’ says Townsend of the Japanese trek. ‘But we have already been out with Zoe and the other walkers and talked about Tom. The climb will be like be a rugby game. There will be physical and mental challenges but we will have some fun after we have reached the summits.’
Townsend is aware other mountains loom after he completes his climb. Scotland face four Autumn Tests, one against the world champions of South Africa. The Six Nations then offers both a severe test and a great opportunity.
On a Tokyo Sunday, Townsend has already watched the Glasgow Warriors thrashing of Benetton. Edinburgh’s match against the Bulls will also be scrutinised before the climbing boots are donned at 4am.
‘I suppose you are thinking of rugby at all times as a head coach,’ says Townsend. ‘It’s every aspect. It might be something tactically or a player you want to connect with or a speech you want to make.
‘There will be no connection with the outside world when we start the climb but when we get back there will be a few messages, hopefully not any regarding injuries.’
Scotland play seven of the next 10 games at Murrayfield, which will celebrate its centenary next year. ‘Yes, it’s a big year,’ concedes Townsend. ‘But we are looking forward to it with great hope.’
He adds: ‘We have a chance to go for it this year. If we get lucky with injuries, our playing group is at a really good age and has had a lot of experiences together. Individually some of them have high cap numbers so they know Test rugby and its demands. I have spoken to the players and I know they really want success.’
Scotland were on the very brink of a major breakthrough in the last Six Nations — beating Wales and England but coming up just short against Italy, France and Ireland. The narrow margins of the defeats emphasised that Scotland can have realistic expectations of a good season. But first Fiji, Portugal, Australia and South Africa lie in wait.
The talk drifts back to the Japanese mountains and, of course, to Smith. ‘I suppose thoughts of the campaign ahead will come to mind when I am walking,’ says Townsend. But he only needs gentle encouragement to recall his best moments with his dear friend.
‘We bonded right away as schoolboys. I don’t know quite why, but we did. He was sharp, funny. He never took himself too seriously,’ says Townsend. ‘He once played against Argentina and their captain, who was an opera singer, delivered a wonderful aria at the post-match banquet. Scott Murray, one of Tom’s great friends, bet him that he (Tom) would not sing at the banquet after the next match.
‘It was against New Zealand and Tom was to deliver the captain’s speech and the All Blacks captain duly delivered a sombre talk. Tom got up, sang *My Way*, told Scott he owed him 100 quid, thanked New Zealand for the game and sat back down.’
Townsend also remembers telling moments when both he and Smith played for Brive in 1998-2000. ‘We had a coach who used to shout and swear at us and, in the first year in France, Tom hadn’t really learned the language. He revelled in the coach’s outbursts because he didn’t know what the guy was saying to him.’
On the field, he made an immediate impact. ‘David Sole and Tom were the forerunners of the modern prop,’ says Townsend. ‘Tom was quick, athletic and had good hands. He was also keen to get involved in play. In one of our early matches at Brive he broke from the scrum and became involved in a passing move which ended in us scoring. The opposition prop was most upset. He told Tom that was not how they played in France. You were supposed to stay in the scrum even when the ball was out. Tom just laughed and went about it in his own way.’
This was how Tom Smith addressed life and the pitch. ‘He was quiet but he grew into his role as captain and when he spoke everybody listened. He was very self-deprecatory but everyone knew the calibre of the man.’
The ascent of the ridges in Japan involves detailed, serious preparation but Townsend admits there was time for relaxation before attending to the summons from the hills. ‘We had a bit of karaoke last night. I sang *Sweet Child of Mine* which had too many high notes and a reminder that you should never sing your favourite song at karaoke but choose an easy one.’
The evening culminated in a group rendition of the Proclaimers’ 500 Miles. The ascent today is, in contrast, a measly 2,900 metres. It will, of course, be draining. But it will be rewarding for the charity and in personal experience.
It may be sentimental to suggest that Smith will be with the walkers all of the way. It is merely a statement of the obvious to note that the memory of a special character will hang heavily over the Japanese Alps.
For more information or to raise funds for the Tom Smith screening fund, please visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/gregor-townsend-1724406162792
