Gareth Davies keen on 'another big day at the office'
Wales scrum-half Gareth Davies has scored six tries in seven World Cup games – and he readily admits to relishing the sport’s biggest stage.
Davies will line up against Fiji in Oita on Wednesday with memories still fresh of his spectacular interception score that helped sink Australia 10 days ago.
And the Scarlets number nine’s impressive strike-rate makes him a key attacking weapon for the unbeaten Pool D leaders.
“I like to think my form away from the World Cup is pretty good, but it is a good stage to shine on,” he said.
“It is pretty special, it’s the best tournament in the world, the biggest stage to play on, and as players as soon as this one has finished we start looking forward to the next one.
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“We have been looking forward to this World Cup for a while, building towards it, and it is great that we have got off to a good start.”
Davies has developed a knack of claiming interception tries, with his blistering pace and clever positional play making him a constant threat to opposition defences.
“With Shaun Edwards (Wales defence specialist) we do a lot of work on our general line speed, and the whole team brings a lot of line speed,” Davies added.
“If I find myself in the right place at the right time, I like to think I am pretty quick and I get off the line pretty fast and sometimes the ball is there to take.
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“It is not on all the time, so I have got to pick my moment.
“Against Australia, I was lucky and picked the right moment for the try, but I can’t do it too much as I would expose too much space elsewhere.
“I have to be careful at times, but hopefully I can pick the right moments and make the right decisions and keep doing it.
”I might not get one (intercept) for another couple of games, but I will keep looking for them.”
Davies is edging towards 50 caps for his country, and also continues to reap the rewards of a hard summer’s training and Test match warm-up period prior to the World Cup.
Just as things were going so well, England's Rugby World Cup campaign is coming under threat from three directions.🥀#ENGvFRA #RWC2019 #RWCTokyo #englandrugby https://t.co/FMa6cIWJxJ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 8, 2019
“I had a quiet summer (away from rugby), to be honest. I didn’t do what I normally do, so there were no trips to (Las) Vegas or anything like that,” he said.
“I knew the training camps we had lined up in Switzerland and Turkey were going to be tough. I just kept my head down and when we came into camp the hard work really started.
“It was a really tough couple of months, but we are all feeling good and fit.
“We try to move other teams around as much as we can.
“We knew we had Georgia up first, and we knew they would be a big physical pack, so we wanted to play some rugby against them to try and tire the forwards out.
“We did that in first game and in the first half against Australia but not quite as much in the second half – but our defensive game was outstanding and that’s what got us the win.”
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Wales have beaten Fiji in the last two World Cups, and another success would confirm a quarter-final place ahead of Sunday’s final group game against Uruguay.
“Some of the individuals they have got are outstanding,” Davies added. “We will have to keep a close eye on some of their backs.
“They have got some big physical ball players in the pack as well, so it is going to be a big day at the office for us.
“We know how the Fijians play, and we have to expect the unexpected against them.”
– PA
Wales know exactly what to expect from their clash with Fiji:
Comments on RugbyPass
The rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
75 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to comments