MERVYN DAVIES:MERVYN DAVIES, who has died at 65 after a long illness, will be remembered as one of the greatest Welsh rugby players of all-time.
Davies starred during the so-called 1970s golden era when Wales won three Five Nations Grand Slams in eight seasons and their players dominated selection for successful British and Irish Lions tours to New Zealand and South Africa. He captained Wales to the 1976 Grand Slam.
His death has cast a long shadow over the Welsh game as the national team prepares for today’s Six Nations title and Grand Slam clash against France in Cardiff.
Thomas Mervyn Davies was born on December 9th, 1946, in Swansea, where he attended Penlan County School.
He opted for a career in primary school teaching and after moving to London during the late 1960s for that reason he joined the famous London Welsh club.
The Exiles, as they are known worldwide, was also home to players who were to become Davies’ team mates for club, country and the Lions – household names like John Dawes, Gerald Davies and JPR Williams.
It was while at London Welsh that Davies attracted interest from the Wales selectors, being picked for his international debut against Scotland at Murrayfield in 1969.
He had only played six games for London Welsh when the Wales call came. But that faith in him was justified as he went on to play 38 consecutive tests for Wales, losing just nine of them.
During his time in the Wales number eight shirt, “Merv the Swerve” helped his country win two Grand Slams and three Triple Crowns during a period of unprecedented success.
Inevitably, he gained selection for the 1971 Lions tour to New Zealand and 1974 Lions tour to South Africa, playing in eight test matches.
He wore a distinctive white headband throughout his career and grew a Mexican-style moustache in an attempt to look more aggressive on the field.
Davies linked up with his home-town club Swansea when he moved back to Wales, but his rugby career was to end in 1976 in dramatic and shocking circumstances.
While playing for Swansea against Pontypool in a Welsh Cup semi-final on neutral territory in Cardiff, he suffered a brain haemorrhage. It later emerged he had collapsed during a game four years earlier, but had incorrectly been diagnosed with meningitis.
Recalling the episode for a 2006 BBC Wales documentary, The Mervyn Davies Story, he said: “If it had happened anywhere else, I would have died. If I had been playing on some obscure golf course, that would have been it. From competing against New Zealand one minute to not being able to beat my one-year-old son at tiddlywinks was a hard battle to come to terms with.”
His rugby career might have been over, but Davies continued to receive plaudits. He was voted his country’s greatest captain and number eight by Welsh rugby fans, being inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame and appointed chairman of the Welsh rugby ex-internationals organisation.
He also became an accomplished after-dinner speaker, retaining his links throughout the rugby and sporting world.
Mervyn Davies, rugby player, born December 9th, 1946; died March 6th, 2012