Ward-Smith has played for Manawatu under-19s and played all twelve provincial games for Manawatu in 1999. Ward-Smith was selected in the NPC XV for that year. He made two appearances representing the New Zealand Maori Colts, with the aim of achieving a Super Rugby contract with the Wellington Hurricanes. However Ward-Smith eventually pursued a Rugby Career in the UK due to having dual Nationality.
Ward-Smith travelled to the UK on a short term contract with Plymouth Albion. While playing rugby in a local cup tie in Devon he suffered an ankle ligament injury which ended thoughts of an immediate return to a contract in pro rugby back in New Zealand. 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. He was selected for England 'A' in his first season at Bristol, making his debut against Ireland A. In his second season at the club he was called up to the 30-man England training squad for the Autumn Internationals. He missed out on a place in the 2007 England World Cup squad due to a ruptured patella tendon after being part of the initial training squad. Dan was named in The Guinness Premiership Team of the Year for the 2006-2007 season as Bristol finished third. After a promising start to the 2007–08 season with Bristol he broke his hand and missed out on selection for the 2008 Six Nations squad. It was announced on 24 March 2009 that he had signed a 4-year deal with London Wasps. On 7 July 2009; Ward-Smith was selected for the England Saxons squad. He had been selected for the 2010 tour to the southern hemisphere. However he did not play in the Test Matches but made appearances in the 4 non test fixtures. Notably Dan featured against The Barbarians at Twickenham and was the first person of Maori heritage to play against NZ Maori when he appeared for England in Napier in a fixture that celebrated 100 years of NZ Maori Rugby.
