Reivers were disbanded and the districts merged with Glasgow and Edinburgh respectively. Smith was one of the lucky players that moved to the renamed Glasgow Caledonians, now Glasgow Warriors. He played in the 1998–99 Scottish Inter-District Championship - then a Tri-Series between Edinburgh and Glasgow - and played four matches in the European Conference for Glasgow in that season. After one season at Glasgow Warriors, he was taken on at French club CA Brive. He stayed a further two seasons with the club. Smith returned to the UK in 2001 to join Northampton Saints in the English Premiership making his Northampton debut on 1 September 2001. Over the subsequent eight seasons his appetite for the action never diminished and neither did his popularity with the Saints' fans. His time at Franklin's Gardens included two Powergen Cup finals, a Heineken Cup semi-final and three Heineken Cup quarter finals. He remained at Northampton until his retirement from playing in 2009. International career Smith earned his first Scotland cap in 1997 in the Calcutta Cup match versus England at Twickenham. Despite only having three 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, in preference to the other touring props Jason Leonard and Graham Rowntree. His strong scrummaging and good hands alongside many other great team performances, ensured that the Lions won over their much more highly fancied hosts and won the series 2–1. Smith was also selected in the 2001 Lions tour of Australia and played all three test matches of that series, to become the only Scot to play the six consecutive Lions tests matches of 1997 and 2001. For the next eight-years Smith was to be a first choice starter for Scotland and talismanic figure for the team, winning the Five Nations in 1999 and captaining the side throughout the 2001 Autumn Internationals. Smith was also Scotland's Player of the Season in 2000–01. He was included in the Zurich World XV for 2002, a notional team list that was compiled based on ratings from detailed video analysis of performances during the past year. After an international career that included two World Cups and six consecutive Lions tests, Smith's final match in the blue jersey