Mervyn Davies Captain of the Barbarians v Australia 1976 - 5 Caps.

To set the scene…. it’s Paris on a cold January afternoon in 1975 and in the tunnel of the Parc Des Princes stands a new look Welsh rugby team. They are nervously waiting alongside their formidable opponents to be led onto the pitch for the start of their Five Nations campaign. The six new caps for Wales that day needn’t have worried for at their head and captaining his country for the first time was the imposing figure of the great Mervyn Davies. Mervyn already had 29 caps for Wales and two victorious Lions tours under his belt. Indeed, so great was his contribution on the 71 Lions tour that Sir Colin Meads commented that Davies was "the one player who probably had the biggest impact on that 1971 Lions Test series”. 

Sadly, Welsh rugby fans at home knew nothing of what was happening that day in Paris as the BBC wasn’t covering the match live. I can remember my father and I watching the Ireland /England match on Grandstand when Frank Bough started to feed information about the events unfolding in Paris via his earpiece. To say we were ecstatic when the final score was declared would be a huge understatement. Wales had destroyed France, beating them by the largest margin since France had lost to South Africa in 1952. 

It was a result that was to reshape Wales’s decade. Although the Scots narrowly denied Wales their first Grand Slam in Mervyn’s first season as captain in 1976 Wales made sure. Wales won the Grand Slam in style in Cardiff with an epic Victory over the much changed and revitalised French. 

Sadly, Mervyn was unable to realise his dream of captaining Wales to back-to-back Grand Slams as he suffered a tragic brain haemorrhage while playing in a cup tie for Swansea, prematurely ending his rugby career later that same year. Indeed, most people assumed Mervyn would be the captain the British & Irish Lions Tour to New Zealand in 1977. The Nation was devastated to lose their talismanic Captain after only two seasons, but Mervyn’s legacy lived on and inspired Wales to another Grand Slam in 1978. 

Mervyn was one of my father’s favourite subjects. With his thick white head band, dark curly hair and famous moustache all helping to make him a great Grogg. It was the highlight of my father’s career when Mervyn asked him to make a special figure of himself for the cover of his 1977 biography. Dad was under pressure to create the best representation of Mervyn he could, so my Mum asked me to give him a hand with the face, which I was delighted to do!

Mervyn made many visits to the Groggshop and Dad spent many hours along with Mervyn and his co-captain and teammate John Dawes at Bruno’s cafe on the Broadway putting the rugby world to rights. It’s hard to believe that 50 years have gone by since that momentous day on the 18th of January 1975 in Paris. I hope my latest version of Wales’s inspirational Captain, available in all his representative shirts, evokes those magical memories of his magnificent career in rugby. 

Limited to only 100 pieces.

Priced at £150 plus £6.00 P+P UK Next Day Delivery (If in stock & ordered before 2pm - inscriptions 1-2 days extra) / Worldwide Postage £60.