Davies steps out of big brother’s shadow
Scarlets star desperate to shine against Italy O’shea says Gatland has not shown ‘disrespect’
When the flanker they call “Cubby Boi” runs out against Italy, it will be one of the most welcomed Wales debuts in recent times.
James Davies is the brother of Jonathan, the Lions centre who is nicknamed “Fox”; hence the younger sibling’s moniker. Jonathan is out for the entire Natwest Six Nations campaign with a foot injury, but will be at the Principality Stadium tomorrow, and although he would never admit it, like most of the support, and all of the Scarlets faithful, the 27-year-old will believe that the honour is long overdue.
Warren Gatland has enjoyed an embarrassment of openside riches, including Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric. Yet even when these were with the Lions, Davies Jr was overlooked for summer tours. There were murmurs that shenanigans off the pitch, and sometimes on it, counted against him.
Most famously, there was the time he went to Las Vegas and after a £1,000 bet with Rhys Priestland woke up with a wretched hangover and the huge black letters “C.U.B.B.Y.B.O.I” tattooed across his fingers. If that earned him an admonishment from his parents – “my old man didn’t talk to me for weeks” – he then fell foul of the officials when he was banned for three games for using vulgar language and making an obscene gesture in a Champions Cup match last season.
Yet while the powers-that-be remained wary, he became a fans’ favourite. All too regularly, the cry went up for his national inclusion after his fast, skilful displays for his region and his performance in helping the Great Britain Sevens team win silver at the 2016 Olympics. His phone remained silent.
“You wonder if you will ever get a chance,” he said. “I felt like I had been playing consistently. It was frustrating.”
With Warburton out for the season, Davies’s case became irresistible and Gatland included him in his Championship squad. But he never altered his style to ensure he achieved his ambition.
“The fact I wasn’t getting called up wasn’t something that was ever going to change the way I play for the Scarlets. If anything, my form has got better and better,” he said. “My game is suitable for the Scarlets, so I would never change it for personal gain, for a cap. Warren told me to keep working hard, keep training and keep my head down. I knew I had to be adaptable. I have done that and have maybe changed a few people’s opinion.”
With Tipuric at blindside, Wales will have an abundance of speed in the loose and it will be Italy’s mission to stop these flying back-rowers. Conor O’shea, the Italy coach, has made only one change from the defeat in Marseille two weeks ago – Giulio Bisegni for Zebre teammate Tommaso Boni at outside centre – as he searches for a first win in Wales. With Davies winning his first cap and the likes of hooker Elliot Dee making his first start in Gatland’s radically altered team, some have accused the New Zealander of “disrespect”. But O’shea waved away that notion. The Irishman knows all about the talent of Davies. “When you’ve got the ability to bring in that sort of quality, it must be lovely,” he said.