Hopkin Davies was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

forward who played club rugby for

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

and was capped for the

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

international team on four occasions.Hopkin Davies player profile
Scrum.com

Rugby career

Very little is recorded of Davies' personal life or playing career, though he was recorded as being a Swansea player at the time of his selection for the Welsh national team. Davies was brought into the Welsh squad to play in both the

1898 Home Nations Championship The 1898 Home Nations Championship was the sixteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Five matches were played between 5 February and 2 April. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. For the second year ru ...

matches against Ireland and England. Wales had just returned from a year out of international rugby due to the Gould Affair and Davies was one of five new caps brought into a vastly changed pack to face Ireland. Davies was one of only two Swansea players in the squad, along with the Wales captain

Billy Bancroft William James Bancroft (2 March 1871 – 3 March 1959) was a Welsh international fullback, who played club rugby for Swansea, and a county cricketer for Glamorgan, for whom he was the first professional player in 1895. Bancroft was seen as o ...

, with

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

providing almost half the team. The game finished 11–3 to Wales, and Davies was reselected for the last game of the tournament, against England. Wales lost the match 14-7 and the next season saw another major overhaul of the forward positions, with Davies losing his place. In took another three seasons for Davies to be reselected for Wales again, but in the second Welsh match of the 1901 Championship, he was brought into the pack as a replacement for Pontymister's William Willams. Although the team had won the opening game of the tournament against England, doubts were raised in the press over the cohesion of the Welsh pack, and this proved founded when Wales collapsed towards the end of the match to allow a Scottish victory. Davies played in one more match for Wales, in the final game of the 1901 season, facing Ireland at his club's ground, St. Helen's. Wales won a tight game, but Davies was dropped for the next Championship and did not represent Wales again.

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 464. * 1898 * 1898, 1901 * 1901

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Hopkin Welsh rugby union players Wales international rugby union players Rugby union forwards Swansea RFC players Year of death missing Year of birth missing