ODD COUPLE
They grew up in towns 12,000 miles apart, one famous for a three-legged pub crawl and the other a race involving bulls’ testicles. Meet the Welsh...
Jonathan Davies is a 70- cap, two-time Lion from Bancyfelin who grew up in the Fox and hounds pub — hence the ‘Foxy’ nickname. hadleigh Parkes is a Kiwi convert from hunterville, new Zealand, parachuted into the side in 2017.
But the Welsh centres have plenty in common as Sportsmail learned when we caught up with them ahead of saturday’s clash with england…
WILL KELLEHER: so it’s england. it’s a massive six nations match. Jon, you’ve played eight times against them — what is different about an england game in Cardiff?
JONATHAN DAVIES: Firstly, you’re a lot more popular, with people asking for tickets! Wales v england… you are brought up on it and there’s always added spice. i remember 2013 (when Wales won 30-3 to stop an english Grand slam), england sang the anthem first. i thought, ‘Jeez, there’s a lot of them’, and then the Welsh boys started singing. a different level.
this game carries the same weight. it’s going to be great. the whole city has such a buzz. it’s why you want to play. there’s no higher level.
KELLEHER: hadleigh, have you been to one of these games as a fan?
HADLEIGH PARKES: the 2015 one was the first time i went to the Principality stadium. the crowd was amazing on that Friday night, when James haskell ran into the post!
DAVIES: that was when there was a stand- off in the tunnel when Chris Robshaw wouldn’t walk out.
PARKES: the crowd was awesome, the result didn’t go the right way, but you know it’s going on when the english come to town.
KELLEHER: Jon, you missed 2018’s 12-6 defeat with injury, but hadleigh you played. Does that still rankle because Gareth anscombe’s try was controversially chalked off?
PARKES: sometimes things go your way. We got that against France with George north’s try, when Yoann huget dropped it.
DAVIES: (sarcastically) a wellplaced kick, wasn’t it?
PARKES: ( winks) Perfectly weighted! if Gareth’s try against england had stood, it might have been different. then scott Williams almost scored, but it was a great effort to flip him over by sam Underhill. it’s always a great test — i’m sure the crowd will be outstanding. england have been quite impressive, but we’re building nicely.
KELLEHER: Wales could break the national record of consecutive wins (11) with a victory. Warren Gatland says you’re forgetting how to lose — do you feel that?
PARKES: there’s a lot of belief. i’ve only been in the side for a year and a bit but everyone is pushing each other.
DAVIES: We’re better the more time we spend together, so to get those two wins puts us in a good spot.
KELLEHER: hadleigh, you joined the scarlets in 2014, the year Jon went to Clermont, so when did you first meet?
PARKES: Me and Jon were obviously a straight swap... body and everything!
DAVIES: i remember seeing the photos the scarlets put on instagram when hadleigh arrived. he had long hair…
PARKES: i didn’t have the really long hair — the mullet — but it was longish. it looked like i’d just come off the beach! not a great look.
DAVIES: a traditional Kiwi rugby player! PARKES: i think i had a leather jacket on, too… the boys still remind me of that.
KELLEHER: Jon, what were your first impressions of hadleigh?
DAVIES: i had good reports from the scarlets boys, he has values that suit Welsh people and he slotted in. that’s a key thing when you come into a new club — that you buy into everything.
PARKES: What Foxy is trying to say is that i enjoy a beer as much as him!
DAVIES: i think so! i must’ve come back for a weekend and we went for a few beers. Parksey lives in Cardiff like me, so we travel down to training together. We had met each other a few times before i came back in 2016.
PARKES: i knew Foxy’s brother James from playing with him, so when he came back from Clermont on a day off we would meet for… only for a coffee on a day off! then on nights out you see each other.
KELLEHER: You’ve grown up in similar places on opposite sides of the world. hunterville, nZ, with a population of 429, Bancyfelin, Wales, with 300 residents.
PARKES: Westwalian people are very similar to rural new Zealanders. they’re humble and when people give them praise they’ll say, “no, it’s somebody else”. they want you to enjoy your experience.
DAVIES: i’ve been to new Zealand a few times on tour and you do see similarities in certain areas there to back home. Kiwis settle in Wales as they find it like home.
KELLEHER: hadleigh, your home town has a festival called the shepherd’s shemozzle — what on earth’s that?!
PARKES: (laughs). it’s a bit different. hunterville is known for its huntaway dogs — sheep herders. there’s a statue to them in the village. You don’t really do much with sheep during the shemozzle, though. it’s 300 competing shepherds and good prize money, about $5,000 (£2,600) for first place.
the shepherds aren’t on a huge wage and come from all over the north island to do it. My brothers have competed, but i haven’t.
everyone ties their dogs up on a rope with a bit of feed. huntaway dogs all look pretty similar, black and tan, so people spray-paint them. a shotgun will go off, shepherds sprint out. they don’t know where their dogs are, so they have to find them.
the shepherds all wear a woollen potato sack — not the most comfortable thing — and then it’s a two kilometre run up a hill, through a dam, swim through a pond full of eels, down to the main street, all with your dog. You skull (drink) a
beer through a straw, eat a possum pie, then put bull’s testicles in your mouth! there are 18 or 19 different parts. and a speed sheepshear at night. it’s a good night out, i can tell you!
anything like that down your way, Jon?
DAVIES: (bemused) not to my knowledge! there’s a three-legged race round the pubs, but nothing quite like that. Bull’s testicles in the mouth, was it?
PARKES: Yeah. Bull’s testicles in your mouth, dog in a wheelbarrow, get them over the finish line. DAVIES: Unique!
KELLEHER: so hadleigh, what makes Jon so good on the field?
PARKES: he’s had a couple of superb Lions tours, and will go down as one of Wales’s best players. he’s been a member of this squad for 10 years and probably key for eight. KELLEHER: Jon, what makes hadleigh so good to play outside? DAVIES: he doesn’t make mistakes, doesn’t panic, gives confidence to players around him and has been a big part of why scarlets and Wales have done so well recently. Parkesy has been involved in a lot of the games in this run. it’s testament to the work he’s done. he’s great to play with.