 Smith earned his first Scotland cap in 1997 in the Calcutta Cup match versus England at Twickenham.Despite only having a 3 caps to his name at the time he was included by coach Ian McGeechan in the squad for the 1997 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa.Surprising many, Smith was selected to start all three test matches alongside Paul Wallace and Keith Wood over the other touring props Jason Leonard and Graham Rowntree.