| Birth name | Thomas Gerald Reames Davies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1945-02-07)7 February 1945 (age 80) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Llansaint, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Carmarthen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Loughborough College Emmanuel College, Cambridge Cardiff University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sir[2] Thomas Gerald Reames DaviesCBEDL (born 7 February 1945) is a Welsh formerrugby union wing who played international rugby forWales between 1966 and 1978 and was selected for twoBritish Lions tours. He is one of a small group of Welsh players to have won threeGrand Slams.[3]
Born inLlansaint,Carmarthenshire, under the local coal miners scholarship scheme he studied atLoughborough University, before studying atEmmanuel College, Cambridge,[4] and appearing for the University rugby team. Davies taught atChrist's Hospital inHorsham, Sussex from 1971 to 1974[5] when he took up a post with the Sports Council for Wales.[6]
Davies played club rugby forCardiff RFC andLondon Welsh. He captained Cardiff for three seasons in the 1970s, including a 1977–78 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 inCardiff, where Wales lost 14–11. He was to face the Wallabies again in his final appearance for Wales in 1978, this time in Sydney, again a loss. All in all, he was capped 46 times for his country. Davies was switched from his original position ofcentre to theright wing by Wales coachClive Rowlands on their 1969 tour of Australia and New Zealand, and thereafter played in that position.
Davies toured with theBritish Lions in 1968 and 1971 and was part of the group of Welsh 70s legends, ranking in rugby history alongsideGareth Edwards,Barry John,J. P. R. Williams,Phil Bennett andBobby Windsor.[citation needed] A superb attacking player, he has been called one of the best wingers rugby has ever seen. Davies is often remembered for a try – one of 20 in 46 Tests – in the 1971Five Nations match against Scotland. The Scots were leading before Davies scored in the corner in the last minute. BackrowerJohn Taylor then kicked his famous conversion to steal victory.
Invited to join the 1974 Lions Tour of South Africa, Davies turned the opportunity down on his personal uncomfortable position at the consequences and realities ofapartheid.[7]
ForWales: 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 theBritish 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 the1971 tour to New Zealand (9 points).[8]
After retiring as a player, Davies became a journalist, writing on rugby matters forThe Times. He sat onTasker Watkins committee to reform Welsh rugby. He became chairman of theWales Youth Agency, and in the2003 New Year Honours he was appointed aCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) "for services to Young People and to Rugby in Wales."[9][10]
Davies holds Honorary Fellowships from theUniversity of Wales, Lampeter; theUniversity of Wales, Aberystwyth; andWrexham Glyndŵr University.[11] He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship fromCardiff University in a graduation ceremony held on 15 July 2008.[12] On 18 July 2008, he received an honorary doctorate fromLoughborough University for services to sport and journalism, and has also received an honorary doctorate fromSwansea University.[11] He is also aDeputy Lieutenant ofGwent.[11]
In November 2007 he was announced as the manager of the2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa.[13] Davies was elected to the post of President of theWelsh Rugby Union in September 2019 and took up the role in November 2019.[14] In October 2023, Davies was replaced as President of the WRU by formerDirector of Rugby,Terry Cobner.[15]
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