 As a result, Plymouth Albion gave Ward-Smith the offer of rugby in tier 4 of the English club game and in 2000-01 he was part of the all conquering Albion team under the tutelage of Graham Dawe that took the league title with a perfect record of 26 wins out of 26, with Ward-Smith finishing as joint top try scorer in the division with 20 tries.A second successive promotion followed at Albion during the 2001-02 season where the club finished second to Orrell with Ward-Smith again becoming top try scorer in the division, this time with 23 tries.Having helped Plymouth achieved stability in tier 2 in a spell in which he scored almost 100 tries, Ward-Smith caught the eye of Bristol, which he signed for the 2005-6 campaign and looked to make a huge impression in his first season in the Premiership.