Born in Llwynhendy, he learned his rugby at Bynea School and then Stradey Central School. His talent was spotted early in his career when he progressed into senior rugby at Bynea RFC.
He made his debut for the West Wales RU at Neath over the Christmas holidays in 1950 at the age of 18. In that game he was preferred to the War Time international Gwyn Davies.
The next season he was starring for Carmarthenshire, being picked out for the highest of praise in the Western Mail after a 3-0 win over Monmouthshire at Carmarthen Park in November, 1951, a few months after his 19th birthday:
“Outstanding was Terry Davies, the Bynea-born Swansea full-back, who displayed international form and did more than anyone to assure Carmarthenshire’s victory. The possessor of a safe pair of hands and a cool head, his positioning was faultless and time and again he drove the Monmouthshire forwards back with long, accurate kicks.”
Very much out of the old school of full backs, neat, tidy, organised and solid as the last line of defence, he had a prodigious boot and regularly landed 40-yard touch finders out of defence in the days when you could kick directly into touch from anywhere on the field.
He was also a good goal kicker and exceptional drop kicker, ending the 1959 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, New Zealand and Canada as the second highest scorer with 104 points in 13 matches. For Wales he notched 50 points in his 21 matches, famously kicking two penalties out of the Arms Park mud in 1957 to help his side beat Ireland 6-5.
At Twickenham in 1958 he landed a 45-yard monster penalty to secure a 3-3 draw against England and hit the cross bar with another superb effort that could have won the game. That close shave inspired a daring raid later that night by a group of Welsh fans from Manorbier.
Terry Davies kicking at Twickenham
Led by the noted Welsh jockey, Fred Mathias, the trio climbed back into the ground after it had been locked up and managed to saw through the cross bar and secure a 3ft piece as a souvenir from the end at which Davies’ kick had struck the bar.
On their way home to Pembrokeshire the day after the game they were delighted to find Davies walking into the roadside cafe at which they had stopped in the Cotswolds for a short break. He promptly autographed the priceless pieces of sporting memorabilia, although the RFU were more than a bit miffed when they discovered it was missing.
Davies, a timber merchant by trade, offered to replace the cross bar, but a written apology from Mathias eventually smoothed things over. More than 60 years at least two pieces of the cross bar are still in safe hands in Pembrokeshire.
His first club was Swansea, for whom he made his debut against Ebbw Vale in January, 1951, and he was in their side that faced the touring Springboks later in the same year when the All Whites went down 11-3. He also played for the Royal Navy while serving as a Marine on National service, Devonport Services and Devon County.
For a player born on the other side of the Loughor Bridge to turn out for Swansea was certainly frowned upon in those days. It led to a bit of tension, as Davies revealed in his autobiography, Terry Davies; Wales First Superstar Full Back:
For a Llanelli boy to go and play for Swansea in those days was virtually treason; you were branded a traitor. Very few players from this side of the Loughor Bridge ever went to play for the Jacks and I took some stick I must admit. However, there was sound logic to my decision because Gerwyn Williams, the incumbent Welsh fullback at that time, was playing for Llanelli, so there was no opportunity for me at Stradey Park. Swansea were a very good side with some great internationals playing for them and, along with Cardiff and Newport, I suppose they were one of the top teams in Wales. I had to take the opportunity and I accepted it gratefully. Incidentally, I received an offer to play for Neath on the same day but, as history testifies, I turned them down.
His Wales debut, along with Gareth Griffiths and Sid Judd, came in January, 1953 at Twickenham, when he scored his side’s only points with a penalty in a 9-3 defeat to England. He retained his place in the side for the remaining three matches in the Five Nations, helping Wales to beat Scotland, Ireland and France.
He seemed destined for a long reign at full back for Wales, but he picked up a shoulder injury at the start of the 1953-54 season and it took him four years to regain his place. To compound his injury problems, after regaining full fitness he smashed his shoulder on a concrete surround during a match on the Swansea tour to Romania at the end of the 1953-54 campaign and was ruled out of the game for a year.
In the interim he got into a dispute with Swansea and twice had a transfer request turned down. As a result he opted to return to the second class scene at Bynea and picked up three Welsh trial appearances with them in the 1956-57 season.
Many expected him to return to Swansea, but instead he joined Llanelli, making his debut for them against Bath on 17 March, 1956. He became an instant hero at Stradey Park, especially when he kicked the winning penalty in a 9-6 home win over Swansea in September.
Proud brothers – Terry and Len Davies
Davies’ elder brother, Len, also played for Llanelli and won three caps in the back row in 1954 and 1955. Two years older than Terry, he died at the age of 26 in September, 1957, from a blood disease.
That same month Davies rejected an offer from Leeds RLFC to turn professional. They offered him £8,000, while Huddersfield later came in with a bid of £9,000.
The concern at Stradey Park was that he might go the same way as Lewis Jones before him, but as he told JBG Thomas, of the Western Mail, he wasn’t interested:
“There is no fear of my turning professional, despite the very large fee offered which is a temptation to any young player. I am happy with Llanelly, and have such a strong comradeship with my brother Len that I do not want to desert the Union code, and all my friends in Bynea and Llanelly.”
As well as becoming one of the greatest full backs in the world, he also became one of the most travelled. Having been to Romania with Swansea in 1954, he headed to Moscow with Llanelli in 1957 to play in the World Youth Festival.
He scored 20 points in a big win over Czechoslovakia before locking horns twice more with the Romanians. That year also saw him head to Canada with the Barbarians and in 1958 he toured South Africa with the invitation side, taking his appearances for the Baa-Baas up to 13.
Closer to home, having featured in the Swansea side against the South Africans he played for Llanelli against the Wallabies in 1957 (lost 9-5) and the Springboks in 1960 (lost 21-0) in 1960.
He returned to the Welsh side in 1957 and played in 17 of the next 22 internationals. He retired at the end of the 1960-61 season, having led Wales in three of his last four games.
The first of those was against South Africa on 3 December, 1960. It ended in a 3-0 win for the tourists thanks to a wind-assisted first half penalty from Keith Oxlee.
Davies won the toss, but opted to play into the howling wind and driving rain on a pitch that was almost unplayable. The Springbok forward drove the Welsh pack back at every opportunity and killed the ball on the floor whenever they could.
It was a gamble to play against the elements, but the Welsh skipper thought it would pay off in the end. The Scottish referee, Jack Taylor, offered to call off the game early, but Davies and his Welsh team persisted to the end and almost scored when Danny Harris crashed over the line from a line-pout and Ken Richards pushed a drop goal attempt inches wide. The next day the River Taff burst its banks and the pitch was covered in two feet of muddy water.
Perhaps Davies’ greatest achievements came on the 1959 Lions tour to Australasia and Canada. Injuries reduced his chances of playing in more than 13 games and he finally forced his way into the side for the second and fourth Tests against the All Blacks having battled throughout the tour with Scottish star Ken Scotland for the full back berth.
The quality of both players was shown in the fact the elegant Welshman and sublime Scottish attacker were chosen among the New Zealand Rugby Almanac’s five players of the year after the tour. The Lions lost the first Test 18-17, despite outscoring the home side by four tries to one, and Davies got his chance to shine in the second Test in Wellington.
Another close affair went in favour of the All Blacks, 11-8, with referee Roy Gillies incorrectly calling a knock-on against Davies that led to the winning score with the Lions leading 8-6 with a minute to play.
The All Blacks ran away with the third test, 22-8, but the Lions, and Davies, had the last laugh as they won the final Test 9-6, scoring three tries in the process and not conceding any. A couple of days after returning from Lions tour Davies played for Llanelli against Aberavon at Stradey Park and underlined why New Zealanders saw him as the best full back in the world.
He gave what was considered to be one of the greatest individual performances on the ground in the post-war period. He dropped two goals, one from the half-way line, and was chaired off the field at the end of a 25-8 win.
After retiring from the first-class game in 1961 at the age of 28, he played a few final games for Bynea before hanging up his boots. He later became president of the Llanelli ex-players association and was awarded an MBE for his services to Bynea and Llanelli.
The Welsh Rugby Union would like to offer its condolences to the family and friends of Terry Davies.
Terence John Davies (Cap No 585) born 24 September, 1932 at Llwynhendy; died 5 August, 2021 near Llanelli. 21 Welsh caps, 2 British & Irish Lions Tests
