PETER JACKSON
THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW
Four international fly-halves took flight from Wales last year, understandably so given the alternative of staying put on contracts shredded by the rugby recession.
The quartet, one from each region, headed for greener pastures, a scattering to the four winds or, to be strictly accurate, to three continents: Gareth Anscombe from Ospreys to Japan, Rhys Patchell from Scarlets to New Zealand, Jarrod Evans from Cardiff to London, Sam Davies from Dragons to France.
Anscombe, his Oriental odyssey with Suntory Goliath destroyed by yet another long-term injury, is due to resurface at Gloucester before the end of summer. Unable to make more than 14 club starts in four seasons, he is long overdue a break of a different sort.
The same prognosis can be applied to Patchell whose pleasing progress half a world away in Dunedin in negotiating six Super Rugby starts at ten for the Highlanders has been disrupted by a damaged pectoral muscle.
Evans went into the weekend having made four starts for Harlequins plus twice as many off the bench as Marcus Smith’s understudy. All that leaves Davies out on his own as the one member of the Welsh quartet performing consistently throughout a long season at Grenoble in the French Second Division.
At a time when Dan Biggar is seen more often as a touchline television pundit than directing operations for Toulon, Davies finds himself the lone Welsh standard bearer in a country where the club game continues to boom as never before.
Almost 15,000 turned up for Grenoble’s home match against promotion rivals Beziers last month, considerably more than for any match in Cardiff, Swansea, Newport and Llanelli all season.
Friday night’s 29-10 home win over Colomiers almost guarantees Grenoble a home play-off quarter-final. Davies, one of only three players in ProD2 to rack up 200 points, continues to give value for money despite groin trouble restricting his goalkicking.
Money, or more pertinently, the lack of it, left him nowhere else to go. It meant falling foul of the rule barring players who leave a Welsh region with fewer than 25 caps from Test selection.
The fact that Davies played the last of his eight internationals as long ago as 2017 makes it less than a pressing matter but he, like Evans, would appreciate where he stands. The rule applies to those Welsh players who turn down a ‘fair’ offer to stay.
“There was an offer from Cardiff but I didn’t think it was a fair offer,” says Davies. “For that reason I don’t think I should be captured by the 25-cap rule but then the last time I played for Wales was seven years ago.”
Grenoble has taken him from bust to boom, from swingeing cuts of salaries and jobs back home to the prospect of ending his first season in France by reaching the promised land of the Top 14. It would be some achievement after starting with a points deduction over financial irregularities from last season.
“It’s been brilliant,” he says. “You have to win their respect and learning the language helps in that respect. I’d like to think I’m a strong member of the squad and the leadership group.
“I’m given the freedom to play what I see which suits my game. If you make an error, it’s not turned into a big deal. It is very emotional out here which is great. Dare I say it, if we get a home quarter-final play-off we will be as near a 20,000 sell-out as makes no difference.”
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