Barry Davies (born 5 March 1981 in

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

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 ...

) is a retired

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 ...

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 ...

footballer. Davies has also been capped by

at international level. His primary position was at fullback.

Club career

Davies joined

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

as a 19-year-old from Carmarthen Athletic. He has since made over 100 appearances for Llanelli and the Llanelli Scarlets. During his career at Stradey Park he became the region's top try scorer, racking up 37 tries in his lengthy stay at the region. It came to light quite late in his

Llanelli Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

career that Davies was quite a remarkable goal kicker. During and ever since the 2003 season, Davies would attempt kicks at goal from long distances. His greatest kick was against Ulster in the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

at Ravenhill from an estimated distance of 59 metres. Though he did not perform these kicks often, it was this sort of play on the pitch that earned him the nickname 'Barry the boot' from one commentator during the

EDF Energy EDF Energy is a British integrated energy company, wholly owned by the French state-owned EDF (Électricité de France), with operations spanning electricity generation and the sale of natural gas and electricity to homes and businesses through ...

and then again during the Powergen Cup semi-final against

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. In 2007, Davies joined French club

CA Brive Club Athlétique Brive Corrèze Limousin, also referred to as CA Brive, Brive () or CAB, is a French professional rugby union club based in Brive-la-Gaillarde, in the Corrèze department. They compete in the first-tier Top 14 competition. Briv ...

, and in June 2009, he joined the

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

. He was released by the Ospreys in July 2012. Davies joined

Jersey Reds Jersey Reds is a rugby club based in Jersey, Channel Islands that currently competes at the RFU Championship, which is the second tier of English professional rugby. Until season 2022/23, the professional arm of Jersey Reds was part of Jers ...

in 2012, spending one season with 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 ...

side. Following his departure from Jersey, Davies joined

Coventry R.F.C. Coventry Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club based in Coventry, England. The club enjoyed great success during the 1960s and 70s, with many players representing their countries. Coventry's home ground is the Butts Park Arena, ...

He signed on with the club for one more season, in 2014.

International career

Davies was first included in the Welsh squad in 2004, for the Six Nations, following injuries to

Garan Evans Garan Rhys Evans (born 16 February 1973) is a Welsh people, Welsh former rugby union footballer, who played as a Rugby union positions#Full-back, fullback for Llanelli RFC, Llanelli, the Scarlets, Llanelli Scarlets and Wales national rugby union ...

and

Hal Luscombe Haldane 'Hal' Naude Luscombe is a former Wales international rugby union player. His usual position was on the wing or in the centres. The last team he played for was Worcester Warriors in the top level of English rugby, the Guinness Premiershi ...

. After scoring a memorable try for the Scarlets against

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

in the Heineken Cup pool stages, where the Scarlets needed to win the game to qualify for the quarter-finals, Davies was again called up, this time for the

2004 June rugby union tests The 2004 mid-year rugby union tests (also known as the Summer Internationals in the Northern Hemisphere) refer to international rugby union matches that are played through June, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere. Four test series took place in the ...

. He was an unused bench replacement in a match against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

on 19 June. He made his debut for Wales in early 2006, during the Six Nations that year. He came off the bench in a match against

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 ...

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

, which Wales lost 31–5.

References

External links

WRU articleBarry Davies called into Wales squad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Barry 1981 births Living people Rugby union fullbacks Welsh rugby union players Wales international rugby union players Llanelli RFC players Scarlets players CA Brive players Ospreys (rugby union) players Expatriate rugby union players in France British expatriates in France Rugby union players from Carmarthen Welsh expatriate rugby union players