Claude Davey
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| Born | Claude Davey 14 December 1908 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Died | 18 February 2001 (aged 92) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Ystalyfera Comprehensive | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Swansea University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Claude Davey (14 December 1908 – 18 February 2001) was a Wales international rugby union player who played club rugby for several teams, most notably Sale and Swansea. He was awarded 23 caps for Wales and captained his country eight times. Davey was a hard tackling centre and his most famous performance took place on 21 December 1935 when he led Wales to a historic 13–12 victory over the All Blacks at Cardiff.
Davey was one of the outstanding Welsh players of his generation, known for his impressive crash-tackling and strong running ability.[2] He was often criticised for poor handling, but Davey tended to run onto the ball at speed requiring not only good timing but good passing from his teammates. When it failed it was classed as 'bad hands' but when it worked Davey would make distinct attacking headway. This style of play was described in 1930 by the Llanelly Mercury as 'he can do nothing except emulate a battering ram, and too often he forgets to take the ball with him'.[3]
Davey first came to notice while playing for the Wales Secondary Schools, before gaining a place for a Wales University XV, while he was studying electrical engineering at Swansea University. His first club team, was 'the Mond'[4] a colliery team that would later become Cwmgors, moving to Swansea in 1928. His first game for Swansea came in December of the same year against Skewen.
