William Davies (27 December 1890 – 18 September 1967), also known by the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

of "Avon", was a Welsh dual-code 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 ...

, and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1910s and 1920s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for

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 ...

, and at club level for

Aberavon Aberavon ( cy, Aberafan) is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a distr ...

and

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 ...

as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

, and representative level rugby league (RL) for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

, and at club level for

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, as a .

Playing career

Rugby union career

Davies began playing rugby union as a schoolboy playing for both Aberavon Council School and Port Talbot County School. The first notable club that Davies represented was Aberavon, and it was from Aberavon that Davies was first selected to represent the Wales national team. Davies played two international games for Wales, both as part of the

1912 Five Nations Championship The 1912 Five Nations Championship was the third series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship following the inclusion of France into the Home Nations Championship. Including the previous Home Nations Championships, this was the thirtieth se ...

. Davies' first cap was against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

played at St Helen's, which Wales won 21–6. Davies was selected for the next Wales match of the tournament, an away encounter to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The game started well for Wales, with Davies scoring his only international points, a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

in the first half which was converted by

Jack Bancroft Jack Bancroft (9 October 1879 – 7 January 1942),
Scrum.com born John Bancroft, was a Wales, Welsh cricketer, and rugby union ...

. Despite Wales leading 5–0, the more experienced Irish team came back in the second half winning 12–5. By the end of 1912, Davies had switched clubs from Aberavon to Swansea, and in October he was selected to play for county team

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

when they faced the second touring South African team. Davies was not originally a first choice for the team, 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 ...

Billy Spiller William John Spiller (8 July 1886 – 9 June 1970), was a Welsh rugby union player and cricketer. His greatest achievements were in rugby, where he won ten international caps at centre for Wales between 1910 and 1913, but his short first-c ...

chosen not only as centre but also team captain. Three of the backs selected for the encounter, Spiller, Swansea centre Alf Thomas and fullback Jack Bancroft were all withdrawn injured after the teams met in a club clash the previous Saturday. Davies was called in to replace Spiller and was also given the captaincy. The match was a one-sided competition with the South Africans running out winners by 35 points to 3. Davies played in his rugby in two parts of the United Kingdom, in Wales it was for Swansea, Glamoragn and Wales, while in the South of England he played for Exeter University,

Plymouth Albion Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club who play in Plymouth, England. The present club was founded in 1920 from a merger between Plymouth RFC (founded 1876) and Devonport Albion RFC (founded 1876). Since 2003 they have pl ...

, and county rugby for Devon. In 1913 he was suspended by both Wales and Devon for alleged professionalism, and in March he decided to sever links with the union game by 'Going North' and joining Leeds R.L.F.C.

Rugby league honours

Davies won two caps for

while at Leeds in 1914 and 1921, and won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s for

in 1914 against Australia, and New Zealand. Davies played right- in

' 2–35 defeat by

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

Final during the 1914–15 season, and in the 11–3 victory over

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

in the 1921

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

Final during the 1921–22 season at

Thrum Hall Thrum Hall was a rugby league stadium on Hanson Lane in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Halifax for 112 years. The site on which the ground stood is now occupied by a supermarket. History In 1878, Halifax, who had just w ...

, Halifax on Saturday 26 November 1921.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, William 1890 births 1967 deaths Aberavon RFC players Academics of the University of Exeter Dual-code rugby internationals Glamorgan County RFC players Great Britain national rugby league team players Leeds Rhinos players Other Nationalities rugby league team players Plymouth Albion R.F.C. players Rugby league players from Aberavon Rugby league wingers Rugby union players from Aberavon Swansea RFC players Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players