Bradley Davies

Bradley Davies (born 9 January 1987)^[1] is a Wales international rugby union player for Cardiff Blues in the RaboDirect Pro12. His father was a former Pontypridd player Bleddyn Davies who was also a lock forward.

Rugby career

Bradley's first position as a youngster was outside half where he played for Pontyclun juniors, at the age of 14 he then found his natural position at lock. Davies went on from there to play for Llantrisant RFC and Beddau youth and was a member of the Cardiff Blues academy before signing a professional contract with the Blues at 18.

Davies played for all age group levels for Wales and was captain of the under 20s squad when they won the grand slam in 2005.

In the summer of 2008 he was selected in the Welsh squad to tour South Africa but was not able to play due to injury.^[2] During the 2009 Six Nations Championship Davies made his Wales debut as a late replacement for Shane Williams against Scotland.^[3]

On 18 January 2010 he was named in the 35 man Wales national Squad for the 2010 Six Nations tournament.^[4]

On 26 February 2010, Davies played in a loss against France and there was a minutes silence in honour of his mother Cheryl who died aged 46 the week before.^[5]

In the 2012 Six Nations Championship, Davies was back in the red of Wales and started in their clash with Ireland in the opening match of the weekend. The lock, however, was at the centre of a controversial incident as he was sin-binned for 'tip-tackling' Donnacha Ryan. Following this incident the player was cited by match officials and subsequently received a 7 week ban for foul play.^[6]

During the All Blacks end of year European Tour, controversy arose during the Wales vs. New Zealand test match on November 24, 2012. Within the first minute of the game, All Blacks hooker Andrew Hore swung his right arm, hitting Davies hard in the jaw from behind and knocking him unconscious.^[7] This incident was missed by referee Craig Joubert and his touch-judges, and no action towards Hore was taken on the field, however it is expected that Hore will face the judiciary for his actions and he may face an end of season suspension.^[8] This incident resulted in Davies being taken off of the field and taken to a hospital for further concussion assessment.^[9]

Davies was selected as Wales captain for the two match tour of Japan in June 2013.

Welsh Caps

Cap Number	Date	Team	Position	Shirt Number	Home or Away	Venue	Result	Score
1	8 February 2009	Scotland	Sub	19	Away	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	Win	13–26
2	14 March 2009	Italy	Sub	18	Away	Stadio Flaminio, Rome	Win	15–20
3	30 May 2009	Canada	Lock	4	Away	York Stadium, Toronto	Win	23–32
4	7 November 2009	New Zealand	Sub	18	Home	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	Loss	12–19
5	13 November 2009	Samoa	Sub	18	Home	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	Win	17–13
6	6 February 2010	England	Sub	18	Away	Twickenham Stadium, London	Loss	30–17
7	13 February 2010	Scotland	Sub	18	Home	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	Win	31–24
8	26 February 2010	France	Lock	4	Home	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	Loss	20–26

Personal history

On Saturday 9 April 2011 Bradley Davies was arrested in Saundersfoot, Wales for his involvement in a pub brawl.^[10]

References

External links

• Cardiff Blues profile
• Wales profile