Christmas Howard Davies (25 December 1916 - 5 November 1987) was a Welsh international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

full-back who played club rugby for

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

and

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

. He won six caps for

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

Rugby career

Davies was one of very few Welsh players to represent his country on either side of the Second World War. When he was first selected to play for Wales, he was playing club rugby for Swansea, having started his rugby career with Burry Port. His first international game was against Scotland as part of the 1939 Home Nations Championship under the captaincy of Wilf Wooller. Wales beat Scotland 11–3, and Davies was reselected for the very next match at

Ravenhill Stadium Ravenhill Stadium (known as the Kingspan Stadium for sponsorship reasons until June 2025) is a rugby stadium located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home of Ulster Rugby. With the opening of a new stand for the 2014 Heineken Cup quarter ...

in Belfast against Ireland. Wales were victorious, but with the outbreak of World War II, this was the last match either team would play for eight years. When international rugby was re-introduced, Davies, now playing for Llanelli, was one of only two capped players to be chosen for the first Welsh match in the 1947 Five Nations Championship against England; the other being captain Haydn Tanner. The England game would be the only Wales match that Davies appeared on the losing side, as the final three games of the tournament Wales and Davies were victorious.

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 465. * 1947 * 1947 *

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

1939, 1947 * 1939, 1947

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Howard Welsh rugby union players Rugby union fullbacks 1916 births 1987 deaths Swansea RFC players Llanelli RFC players Wales international rugby union players Rugby union players from Llanelli