Ethan making up for lost time in Vancouver

Successive lower body injuries have frustrated his comebacks over the past three years. “It all started in 2017, really. That was the last time I had a good run of form,” he says.

Now he’s back and ready for the World Rugby Sevens Series, having been 13th man in Los Angeles last week. How good does that feel? “It’s been class being back in training,” he says. “LA was strange, being with the team as normal but then getting to the stadium it hit me that I wasn’t actually going to be playing. You feel a bit left out, but I got stuck in helping [S&C coach] Eifion Roberts around games, keeping busy.”

LA might have been a week too early for him, but Vancouver this Saturday offers Davies the perfect chance to get up to speed. Whilst things have been tough for Wales on the field of late, being out injured for so long offered Davies his own share of turmoil.

“It’s difficult. You through some dark places, but I kept telling myself there are other players in worse situations,” reasons the 26-year-old. “Some get told they can never play again. If I ever found myself moping around I remembered that, ‘hang on a minute, you’ll be playing again in four months’. It helped get my head down.”

Still, he’s self-aware enough to allow that he had his moments of moping. “I’ve been a bit of a nightmare, to be honest,” Davies admits. “I said to the boys when I received my Wales jersey before we left for LA: ‘Apologies for being a miserable bugger for the last six months. Hopefully I’ll be more enjoyable to be around now.’”

Moving into a new house with his girlfriend in January also helped keep his mind occupied. Living just up the road from Pontypool Park, it’s curious to note that despite being from the town, it took until 2017 for Davies to represent the club. He scored three tries in four appearances for the club, so not a bad return.

“When I was with the Dragons, I played for every other Gwent club in the Premiership except Pontypool,” Davies says. “Not by choice, I just got sent there. When I was coming back from injury with the sevens a couple of seasons ago, I needed to get back to match fitness so I played four times for Pontypool. To actually play for my hometown was really good.”

For someone who spends most of his career playing outside of Wales, there was an emotional upside to keeping his hand in fifteens. “It was quite special because my Bamp could actually come and watch me. He’s got bad legs so he doesn’t get around much and can’t travel far, but Pontypool Park is near his house. Having him come and support me, and then get a photo with him after the game, was amazing.”

Davies spent a valuable pre-season in 2018 with Scarlets, and was meant to do likewise last year before injury struck. Being in West Wales was a wholly positive experience for him, he says. “It freshened things up for me, being in a completely new environment. I played three games, then needed a groin op, but it was good to work with Stephen Jones and to pick his brain for different skills.”

Back in the sevens world, Davies has at the same time been both up close and detached from Wales’ difficulties on the World Series. For all that, he says that Darren Edwards’s young squad is in “real good spirits”.

“I know results didn’t go our way in LA, but the things we’re saying we’re going to do going into games we’re doing to a good extent,” he believes. “All our stats are improving. Obviously you can’t just go on stats, but when they’re high in certain areas like they were against Spain [Wales won 24-14], it shows our game plans are right – it’s just implementing them on the field.

“That comes down to a bit of inexperience and concentration levels. Sevens is completely different to fifteens in that you don’t get a chance to switch off. But the boys here are training as hard as anyone I’ve ever seen in sevens camp, and I’ve been here five years.”

While he’s been away, captain Luke Treharne has overtaken Davies on points – 553 to his 524 – to edge into second place behind try-scorer extraordinaire Luke Morgan. “That is something I have been keeping an eye on,” he admits. “I want to see my name on top of that list! Hopefully it won’t take too long.”

Whatever happens this weekend, Wales will be grateful to have one of their most experienced and prolific points scorers back in the fold. They take on Fiji, France and hosts Canada in their pool in British Columbia.

“Vancouver is incredible. When they said we’d drawn Canada, I was buzzing. My first tournament back, playing against the hosts,” says Davies, clearly wired at the prospect. “I’ve played them here before and the atmosphere is ridiculous, so to have them on day one, the crowd is going to be bumping.”

For a full list of fixtures at Vancouver Sevens, click here.