St Helen’s ArchivePreserving the past for the future

BZ005

Item

Object ID

BZ005

Type

Blazer

Rights Holder

Swansea RFC Memorabilia Community Interest Company

Provenance

Mervyn Davies

Season

1975-1976

Description

Blazer, single breasted in black cloth with two buttons. Badge on left breast pocket shows WRU Prince of Wales feathers in a red shield. A second shield is quartered with the motifs of the English, Scottish, Irish and French rugby unions. "WRU XV" sits at the top right corner of the pocket and "1976" at the lower left corner, indicating this to be a Welsh Grand Slam blazer.

Info

This is a blazer from Wales Grand Slam season of 1976. It was awarded to Wales captain Mervyn Davies. Wales beat England 21 - 9, Scotland 28 - 6, Ireland 43 - 9 and France 19 - 13. Three Swansea players were in the Welsh pack for all four championship matches: Geoff Wheel, Trefor Evans and Mervyn Davies. Mervyn Davies played 38 times for Wales between 1969 and 1976. He captained the Welsh side in 1975 when they were five nations Champions and again in the Grand Slam year of 1976. Mervyn accumulated two Grand Slams and 3 Triple Crowns during an international career cut tragically short when he suffered a brain haemorrhage in a Welsh Cup semi-final for Swansea against Pontypool. Having played on the successful 1971 and 1974 'Lions' tours, Davies would surely have been captain for the 1977 'Lions' tour to New Zealand. This blazer represents the last great success of one of Wales' most successful players and captains and and a legendary player with the British & Irish Lions.
Kindly gifted by Mervyn Davies.

Keywords

blazer, grand slam, mervyn davies, 1975-1976

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Blazers