Coming out

Lions and Scotland prop Tom Smith became a patron of a Scottish epilepsy charity about a year ago. No big deal were it not for the fact that Smith, in an interview in a rugby magazine to be published next week, decided to reveals that he himself suffers from epilepsy, albeit to a mild degree.

He has never suffered an attack during waking hours, only during his sleep (after which he would wake up with severe headaches) but his major concern has been that he would have a seizure while sharing a room with a team-mate. His club doctor knew of Smith's condition but not his coaches at club or international level.

Smith confirmed in the Observer newspaper: "Coming out proved to be a real dilemma but once I had agreed to do it, I knew it was the right decision." It has resulted in a tenfold increase in the number of calls to the charity.