"I can highly recommend you to buy this book. One of the all time Rugby legends and a man with vision and determination to improve our home town Llanelli." - Phil Bowen
The post-war period saw top rugby players in Wales achieve the kind of fame once associated with Hollywood movie stars and few captured the headlines more often than Terry Davies. The boy from Bynea, who combined the good looks of a young Robert Redford with silky skills and tough as teak tackling, went on to wow crowds across the rugby playing world through his displays for Wales and the British and Irish Lions.
“Terry Davies: Wales's First Superstar Fullback” – the often hilarious tale of a typical working-class upbringing and coming of age with the Royal Marines before finding glory on the rugby field – is as much a social commentary as a fascinating insight into the heydays of amateurism.
From the highs of touring New Zealand and beating the All Blacks in their own backyard to the lows of a career-threatening shoulder injury, his rugby journey, which began as a nervous 17 year old one rainy day up in Ebbw Vale and ended with universal acclaim, is real Roy of the Rovers stuff.
"There are some lovely asides in this colourful story. Clem Thomas he describes as “the only gentleman I know who could speak Welsh with a Cambridge accent”. Splendid insights describe his relationship with Carwyn James as player and as coach. We are taken on a journey through life with the Barbarians and there is a splendid section dealing with his tour of Australia and New Zealand with the 1959 Lions. He remains one of the few Welshman to have won a Test match in NZ.
The modern game he describes as “a turgid affair”. But the book itself, dedicated to the memory of his brother Len who was capped for Wales first but died in his 20's, moves at a brisk pace and is a worthy addition to the bookshelf of all aficionados." - Barri Hurford, Secretary, Welsh Rugby Writers
The post-war period saw top rugby players in Wales achieve the kind of fame once associated with Hollywood movie stars and few captured the headlines more often than Terry Davies. The boy from Bynea, who combined the good looks of a young Robert Redford with silky skills and tough as teak tackling, went on to wow crowds across the rugby playing world through his displays for Wales and the British and Irish Lions.
“Terry Davies: Wales's First Superstar Fullback” – the often hilarious tale of a typical working-class upbringing and coming of age with the Royal Marines before finding glory on the rugby field – is as much a social commentary as a fascinating insight into the heydays of amateurism.
From the highs of touring New Zealand and beating the All Blacks in their own backyard to the lows of a career-threatening shoulder injury, his rugby journey, which began as a nervous 17 year old one rainy day up in Ebbw Vale and ended with universal acclaim, is real Roy of the Rovers stuff.
"There are some lovely asides in this colourful story. Clem Thomas he describes as “the only gentleman I know who could speak Welsh with a Cambridge accent”. Splendid insights describe his relationship with Carwyn James as player and as coach. We are taken on a journey through life with the Barbarians and there is a splendid section dealing with his tour of Australia and New Zealand with the 1959 Lions. He remains one of the few Welshman to have won a Test match in NZ.
The modern game he describes as “a turgid affair”. But the book itself, dedicated to the memory of his brother Len who was capped for Wales first but died in his 20's, moves at a brisk pace and is a worthy addition to the bookshelf of all aficionados." - Barri Hurford, Secretary, Welsh Rugby Writers
