Thomas Gerald Reames Davies CBE DL (born 7 February 1945 in

Llansaint Llansaint is a village of farmsteads and cottages in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It includes a cluster of 19th century stone-built houses around the church, and is surrounded by farmsteads and modern residential development. History Early settlemen ...

) is a Welsh former

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 it ...

wing who played international rugby for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

between 1966 and 1978. He is one of a small group of Welsh players to have won three Grand Slams including

Gareth Edwards Sir Gareth Owen Edwards CBE (born 12 July 1947) is a Welsh former rugby union player who played scrum-half and has been described by the BBC as "arguably the greatest player ever to don a Welsh jersey". In 2003, in a poll of international ...

, JPR Williams,

Ryan Jones Ryan Paul Jones (born 13 March 1981) is a Wales former international rugby union player who played at number eight, blindside flanker or second row. He was involved in three Grand Slam wins, in 2005, as captain in 2008, and 2012. He is one ...

, Adam Jones,

Gethin Jenkins Gethin Jenkins (born 17 November 1980) is a Welsh former rugby union player. He won 129 international caps for Wales and five for the British & Irish Lions. Jenkins was the record cap holder for Wales until he was overtaken by Alun Wyn Jones o ...

and Alun Wyn Jones.

Early life

Born in

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

, under the local coal miners scholarship scheme he studied at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when ...

, before studying at Emmanuel College,

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Davies (1979), pg 90. and appearing for the University rugby team. Davies taught at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553. ...

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

, Sussex from 1971 to 1974Davies (1979), pg 126. when he took up a post with the Sports Council for Wales.Davies (1979), pg 130.

Rugby career

Davies played club rugby for

Cardiff RFC Cardiff Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Caerdydd) is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876Parry-Jones (1989), pg 59 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly afte ...

and

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seaso ...

. He captained Cardiff for three seasons in the 1970s, his most famous game for Cardiff probably being a 1977–8 Welsh Cup game against Pontypool when he scored four tries (beating his marker and near namesake Gareth Davies on each occasion) to earn his side a 16–11 win. He made his international debut on Saturday, 3 December 1966 against Australia in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

, where Wales lost 14–11 – he was to face the Wallabies again in his final appearance for Wales in 1978, this time in Sydney, and again a loss. All in all, he was capped 46 times for his country. He was switched from his original position of

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 eccentricity ...

to the

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

by Wales coach

Clive Rowlands Clive Rowlands OBE (born 14 May 1938) is a former Welsh rugby union footballer and later coach. Rowlands was born in Upper Cwmtwrch. As recorded in the preface for the book 'The Children of Craig-Y-Nos', Rowlands was admitted in 1947, as an ...

on their 1969 tour of Australia and New Zealand, and thereafter played in that position. Davies toured with the British Lions in 1968 and 1971 and was part of the group of Welsh Seventies legends, ranking in rugby history alongside

Barry John Barry John (born 6 January 1945) is a former Welsh rugby union fly-half who played, during the amateur era of the sport, in the 1960s, and early 1970s. John began his rugby career as a schoolboy playing for his local team Cefneithin RFC bef ...

, JPR Williams,

Phil Bennett Philip Bennett (24 October 1948 – 12 June 2022) was a Welsh rugby union player who played as a fly-half for Llanelli RFC and the Wales national rugby union team, Wales national team. He began his career in 1966, and a year later he had taken ...

and

Bobby Windsor Robert William Windsor (born 31 January 1948 in Newport, Monmouthshire), known as Bobby and nicknamed "The Duke", is a former rugby union player who gained 28 rugby union caps for Wales as a hooker between 1973 and 1979. Windsor published his au ...

. A superb attacking player, he has been called one of the best wingers rugby has ever seen. Davies is best remembered for his try – one of 20 in 46 Tests – in the 1971 Five Nations match against Scotland. The Scots were leading before Davies scored in the corner in the last minute. Backrower John Taylor then kicked his famous conversion to steal victory. Invited to join the 1974 Lions Tour of South Africa, he turned the opportunity down on his personal uncomfortable position at the consequences and realities of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

Welsh & Lions Honours summary

For

: 46 Internationals, of which Wales won 29, lost 14 and drew 3 (points for 758, points against 507). 20 tries, 8 of them before the value of a try was raised to four points in the 1971–72 season (72 points in all). For the British Lions: 5 Internationals of which the Lions won two, lost two and drew one (points for 54, points against 53). Davies scored three tries for the Lions during Test games, all of them on the 1971 tour to New Zealand (9 points).

After retirement

After retiring as a player, Davies became a journalist, writing on rugby matters for

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

. He sat on

Tasker Watkins Sir Tasker Watkins (18 November 1918 – 9 September 2007) was a Welsh Lord Justice of Appeal and deputy Lord Chief Justice. He was President of the Welsh Rugby Union from 1993 to 2004. During the Second World War, he served in the British Ar ...

committee to reform Welsh rugby. He became chairman of the Wales Youth Agency, and in the

2003 New Year Honours The 2003 New Year's Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British monarch's honours system, where 1 January is marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of ot ...

he was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) "for services to Young People and to Rugby in Wales." Davies holds Honorary Fellowships from the

University of Wales, Lampeter University of Wales, Lampeter ( cy, Prifysgol Cymru, Llanbedr Pont Steffan) was a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822, and incorporated by royal charter in 1828, it was the oldest degree awarding institution in Wales, with limited ...

, the

University of Wales, Aberystwyth , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

and

Wrexham Glyndŵr University , mottoeng = Confidence through Education , logo = Wrexham Glyndŵr University Logo.svg , image = Coat of arms of Wrexham Glyndŵr.svg , image_size = 180px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , established = 1887, as Wrexham School of Scien ...

. He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

in a graduation ceremony held on 15 July 2008. On 18 July 2008, he received an honorary doctorate from

for services to sport and journalism, and has also received an honorary doctorate from

Swansea University Swansea University ( cy, Prifysgol Abertawe) is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. ...

. He is also a Deputy Lieutenant of Gwent. In November 2007 he was announced as the manager of the

2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa The 2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa was an international rugby union tour which took place in South Africa from May to July 2009. The British & Irish Lions played a three-match Test series against South Africa, with matches in ...

. Davies was elected to the post of President of the

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running of rugby in Wales, o ...

in September 2019 and took up the role in November 2019.

Bibliography

References

External links

Gerald Davies
WRU profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Gerald 1945 births Living people Rugby union players from Carmarthenshire Alumni of Loughborough University Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge The Times people Welsh rugby union players Welsh journalists Wales international rugby union players Wales rugby union captains Rugby union centres Rugby union wings Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Cardiff RFC players Llanelli RFC players London Welsh RFC players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Barbarian F.C. players World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deputy Lieutenants of Gwent Loughborough Students RUFC players People associated with the University of Wales, Lampeter People associated with Aberystwyth University People associated with Wrexham Glyndŵr University People associated with Swansea University