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Ronald Cove-Smith

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British Lions & England international rugby union player

Rugby player
Ronald Cove-Smith
Ronald Cove-Smith in 1933
Date of birth(1899-11-26)26 November 1899
Place of birthEdmonton, London, England
Date of death9 March 1988(1988-03-09) (aged 88)
Place of deathBrighton, England
SchoolMerchant Taylors' School
UniversityGonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Occupation(s)Doctor
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
Cambridge University R.U.F.C. ()
– Old Merchant Taylors ()
– King's College Hospital RFC ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1921–1929 England 29 (3)
1924 British Isles 4 (0)

Ronald Cove-Smith (26 November 1899 – 9 March 1988) was a physician and sportsman. He represented Old Merchant Taylors and King's College Hospital RFC. Internationally he represented the England national rugby union team in 29 tests (1921–1929) (seven as captain) and also captained the British Isles in four tests on the 1924 British Lions tour to South Africa as a lock. He finished on the winning side in 22 of his 29 England matches. He was commissioned in the Grenadier Guards 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 from 1919 to 1921, winning his sporting 'Blue'. He led the 1924 British Lions tour to South Africa, 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.

References

  1. "Ronald Cove-Smith : Rugby Player". militarian.com. 28 August 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  2. Griffiths, John (1990). British Lions. Swindon: Crowood Press. p. 38. ISBN 1-85223-541-1.
  3. Ronald Cove-Smith at the RFU Wall of Fame
  4. "DR. R. COVE-SMITH. Famous Rugby Player Engaged". The Straits Times. 12 September 1932. p. 6. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  5. Blythe, Rona, McCall, Janice M., Jamieson, Elizabeth (1988) Guidelines for Clinical Nursing Practices: Related to a Nursing Model. Churchill Livingstone. ISBN 0443037949

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded byLeonard Corbett English National Rugby Union Captain
1928 – February 1929 		Succeeded byJoe Periton
Preceded byTommy Smyth British & Irish Lions Captain
1924 		Succeeded byDavid MacMyn
England national rugby union team captains
To 1900
To the First World War
To the Second World War
To the professional era
To the present day
British & Irish Lions team captains
To 1910
To present
NotesNote 1: Robert Seddon died on tour after a boating accident. Andrew Stoddart became captain for the remainder of the tour.

Note 2: Matthew Mullineux decided that after losing the first test that he should withdraw from further test matches, handing on field captaincy to Frank Stout, but remained tour captain.
Note 3: David Bedell-Sivright was injured during the first test. Teddy Morgan took over captaincy on the field but Bedell-Sivright remained tour captain.
Note 4: The team that John Raphael captained was not selected by the four Home Nations governing body, but had been organised by Oxford University and billed as the English Rugby Union team. However, it was considered the Combined British team by Argentina because it also included three Scots.
Note 5: Jack Jones was captain for the first test, but Tommy Smyth remained the tour captain.
Note 6: Bleddyn Williams captained in the third and fourth tests v New Zealand and the first test v Australia.
Note 7: Cliff Morgan captained in the third test.
Note 8: David Watkins captained in the second and foruth tests v New Zealand.
Note 9: Michael Owen captained the Lions in the first tour game, the test vs. Argentina in Cardiff. Brian O'Driscoll was injured at the beginning of the first test against New Zealand. Gareth Thomas replaced him as tour captain.
Note 10: Sam Warburton was injured in the second test. Alun Wyn Jones replaced him as captain for the third test.
Note 11: Tour captain Sam Warburton was named on the bench for the first test. Peter O'Mahony was the captain on the field.

Note 12: Tour captain Alun Wyn Jones left the squad for 17 days due to an injury in the first warm-up match, and was replaced by Conor Murray temporarily.
British Lions – 1924 South Africa tour
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CoachManager: Harry Packer
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