Mr and Mrs Davies were living in Llanelli at the time and their bouncing baby boy became the hero of Burry Port RFC when he became that club’s first Welsh international in the game against Scotland in 1939.
It was the first of six caps he won either side of WWII at full back – the first two from Swansea and the four in the 1947 Five Nations Championship from Llanelli. He made his debut against Scotland after taking over from Viv Jenkins, who retired from international rugby in the wake of a 3-0 defeat to England.
The Welsh captain, Wilf Wooller, had proclaimed before taking his side to Twickenham that “if this side does not win, we never shall win again at Twickenham.” In the wake of their narrow failure by a try to nil the Big Five made nine changes.
A tough tackler and a superb punter of the ball, Davies was one of six new caps and helped Wales to beat the reigning Triple Crown holders by 11-3 at the Arms Park. A month later in Belfast he was in a Welsh side that stopped the Irish from completing a Triple Crown with a 7-0 triumph at Ravenhill.
That was the last official Welsh international for eight years as WWII intervened. It wasn’t, however, an end to Davies’ top-flight rugby career.
A steelworker by trade, he went into the Army and featured in a number of matches, including two Red Cross and two Services internationals. He also played in the Great Britain XV against The Army in the last big game of the 1939-40 season.
HOWARD DAVIES’ MATCHES 1940-1942
24 February, 1940 – St Helen’s, Swansea
West Wales 11-9 East Wales
9 March, 1940 – Cardiff Arms Park
Wales 9 – 18 England
13 April, 1940 – Kingsholm, Gloucester
England 17 – 3 Wales
20 April, 1940 – Richmond Athletic Ground
The Army 23-15 Great Britain XV
5 April, 1941 – St Helen’s, Swansea
South Wales 14 – 8 RAF XV
11 October, 1941 – St Helen’s, Swansea
South Wales 16 – 11 RAF XV
6 December, 1941 – Richmond Athletic Ground
The Army 21 – 3 The Army in Ireland
20 December, 1941 – St Helen’s, Swansea
South Wales 6 – 13 The Army
7 February, 1942 – Ravenhill, Belfast
Ireland XV 6 – 9 British Army
7 March, 1942 – St Helen’s, Swansea
Wales 17 – 12 England
28 March, 1942 – St Helen’s, Swansea
England 3 – 9 Wales
17 October, 1942 – St Helen’s, Swansea
South Wales 12 – 16 The Army
Having switched from Swansea to Llanelli in 1946 he was one of only two survivors from the win over the Irish in 1939 to re-appear in the next game against England at the Arms Park in January, 1947. Haydn Tanner, who captained the side, was the other one, while Les Manfield and Bunner Travers appeared in later matches.
The English spoiled the return to international action by winning 9-6, although Wales went on to win their three other matches to share the title with them. The Scots were beaten 22-8 at Murrayfield, a Bill Tamplin penalty in Paris earned a 3-0 win over the French and it was 6-0 against the Triple Crown chasing Irish at St Helen’s.
That was the end of his international career at the age of 31, but his legacy lives on to this day after his family presented his cap and collection of shirts to Burry Port to put on display in their clubhouse.
Davies isn’t the only Welsh international to have been born on Christmas Day. Former Cardiff lock Stuart Roy, who won one cap at the 1995 World Cup, was born in 1968, while Llandeilo product George Davies won nine caps as a centre and full back, including Triple Crowns in 1900 and 1905, was born in 1875.
