St Helen’s ArchivePreserving the past for the future
Two
Transcript:
This is part two in the nine part, all jersey, audio trail sharing the career of ‘Merve the Swerve’, the greatest number 8 of his generation, Mervyn Davies. Each entry in this trail is accompanied by images of the jersey, but each entry shall take a moment to describe the object as it stands on display today. The first six parts of this trail are jerseys Mervyn wore himself, whilst the latter five are international jerseys Mervyn obtained through the culture of jersey swapping. Mervyn would later personally donate each of these jerseys to the St Helen’s Archive.
As explored in the previous and first part of this trail, Mervyn’s London Welsh jersey, Mervyn Davies won caps for Wales 38 consecutive times during his career, half of which whilst with London Welsh, and half with Swansea RFC. Between 1969 and 1976, he won two Grand Slams and three Triple Crowns during his international career with Wales, also touring with the British and Irish Lions twice. He captained Wales during his last 9 appearances, a well-deserved title given his intelligent reading of the game, and uncanny sense of anticipation allowing him to always arrive first at the breakdown. While the back-half of this trail shall see specific games or match-ups explored more closely, thanks to the aforementioned culture of jersey swapping, this entry will look at Mervyn’s international career, more at a glance.
To first speak of this jersey itself however, it is of course a red jersey, with the Prince of Wales feathers on the left breast. On its rear, is a white cloth number 8, which unfortunately saw some substantial colour run staining before it came into the care of the St Helens archive.
Mervyn won his first Welsh cap against Scotland on February 1st 1969. Played at the Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, the game ended 17-3 to Wales. The game was a part of the 1969 Five Nations championship, in which the Welsh side earned Mervyn’s first Triple Crown, also beating Ireland 24-11, and England 30-9. In that same year, Mervyn would play against Australia on the 21st of June 1969, a game which is represented in the penultimate part of this trail.
To fast forward, Mervyn’s final game for the international side was against France on the 6th March 1976, where the Welsh side came out on top, 19-13 in Cardiff. Between the 44 appearances between Wales and the British and Irish Lions, Mervyn incredibly only lost nine times, surely a testament to his intelligence and athleticism.
In 2001, Mervyn Davies was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame. While in 2002, in a poll of Welsh rugby fans, Mervyn was voted greatest Welsh captain and greatest Welsh number 8.
Next up in the trail, Mervyn’s first British and Irish Lions jersey. The successful tour of 1971, where Mervyn played in all four tests… Follow on to find out more. Please don’t forget to press next.