Not after an argument but Watkins, Fielding at Salford, Bevan to the Wires, Scott Gibbs to Saints, Inga ( whats his name ) to Wigan. Yer Jiffy just pips Gibbs 🙂
Such a gifted player and intelligent TV commentator and pundit. One of my favourite Welsh rugby players - his try against the Kangaroos where he ran around Bret Mullins was one of the best, Mullins was frequently doing that to opposition players himself (he was freakishly fast) and for someone to do it against him was inconceivable.
i'm pretty young i was actually born in 1994 so all i have seen of Jonathan davies is him being a pundit on bbc but to see some of his tries, well.. wow
He was the quickest rugby league player ever to score a Thousand points in Rugby League ever back in the early 1990's great player must give him credit where it is well deserved .
i meet him a few fair times and spent time with him when he was at widnes.i was on the ground staff.he always came in for kicking practise on his own on tuesday and thursday mornings.i was his catcher underneath the sticks as he was booting them over.i was kicking them back lucky enough to watch him playing in a magical widnes side and when he went to warrington and at great britain level.magical player.also outstanding in australia particularly for canterbury bulldogs.respect forever jiffy.
What a player - brilliant pundit too, speaks a lot of sense about the game. Can I just commend you, Spacecowboy149, on a beautifully put together video. Lots of the tribute videos on the web these days just have loud music clouding the commentary and none of it matches the footage. You've edited the footage and commentary to link in very nicely with what is a very appropriate musical overture. Great stuff.
GB Rugby league team had some amazing talent in the late 80's and early 90's with the likes of Davies, offiah, Hanley, schoefield etc. all amazing talents but the speed and swerve of jiffy was unbelievable. Awesome player.
Alongside Hanley and others we really should have beaten the Aussies in at least one series but contrived to lose with bizarre stuff happening. However you have to hand it to Mal Meninga and co. Their team was also chock full of genius as well. ! Classic league battles. Considered myself lucky to have been young and watched it all free to air or at Naughton Park with my Dad RIP.
What a player. No 10 is a religious symbol in Wales. He should be made a Saint. It is so good to see how Rugby should be played i. e. You run around your opponents not through or over them. Feckin brilliant and thanks for the video.
Thanks for putting this video together mate. I've been looking for footage of Jiffy because I remember watching him back in the 80's & 90's. He was an awesome player, skilled and also brave. I remember Wales v Fiji or Samoa in his last Rugby World Cup, he was all over the pitch tackling anything that moved; after the game the commentators said he'd made more tackles than the forwards, ! Thanks again !
He was one pf my fave players back in the day and I'm English. I was sad when he moved to league in 1989, but I understood why. I have yet to see a back in union with better acceleration from a standing start. He got into 5th gear very quickly.
Im a kiwi and a HUGE J.Davies fan,watching all those guys chasing him two of them were Terry Wright while playing against the All Blacks and Brett Mullins from the Kangaroos those guys are not slow.I know they dont give All Black or Kangaroo jerseys to just any body but man he made those two look very ordinary...Special player
He made Mullins look fairly ordinary but Terry Wright came back and was eating the meters up on him...dont get me wrong I loved JD aswell his acceleration over those first 20m was unbelievable.
@@staceyspooner5798 still couldn’t catch him though. If the line wasn’t so close, JD would have used one of his side steps to elude him but yeah, Terry Wright did well to almost catch him👍🏽
@Anthony Joshua That's an incorrect comparison or example I believe. A world cup only takes a few games to win. Davies broke records in both codes. In Great Britain. One code in Australia. He could score tries from impossible situations. Wilkinson played safety first in one. His points scoring from the boot is outstanding. However. He didn't score many tries. It's my opinion that he wasn't as exciting as Davies. I think that's what the original contributor meant. Possibly.
And to think when he went to League they said he would be too small. Maybe, because of his split time between codes, the most underrated player of all time.
Can’t believe Llanelli rejected him 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️neath saw the talent and thank god he didn’t end up a painter and decorator. Can you imagine what we would have lost. Hope that there’s mileage for all “smaller framed” folks in muscle sports with cheslin, Shane Williams, Faf de Klerk, Schalk Britts!!, kwagga smith etc. all being told they weren’t good enough as they were too small.
Great player it's a pity that the WRU messed the Welsh game up at the time because I'am sure Jiffy would have stayed in Wales if they'd have modernised our club teams .
I have just had the pleasure of spending this Friday night on the piss with him in Spain for a corporate doo….. not only one of the best players (of both codes) but a truly lovely bloke….. living legend.
I saw him play “live” many many times. He was magical to watch just like Offiah and for different reasons Kurt sorenson. My Widnes lads of the early 90s were amazing to watch but Wigan had that Indian sign o er us as did Leeds sometimes. I loved the premiership final against Bradford northern which I watched from one of the best old standing areas ever created the old old Trafford paddock. Wonderful times. Wonderful player. Thanks Jonathan.
The crazy thing is, I'd love to chuck him straight into a wales greatest ever 15 but we also had the likes of Barry John & Phil Bennett in the same position. We've been truly blessed with number 10's over the years.
great vid spacecowboy, well edited to the musci as well, Jonathan Davies going north broke my heart in 88 what a player he was and a nice bloke too met him in Cardiff in the flyhalf and firkin, top bloke
Feckin amazing that's why Rugby's a religion and an art form too when played like this. JD so privileged to have seen him live but all this is great too AND keeps his skills alive for all to marvel at.
A class act, and despite what someone said on here, a very insightful commentator. Would love to see more of the 7s match against New Zealand - been hoping someone would upload footage at some stage..
Pure magic. John, Edwards, Bennet and Davies. Jeez, Wales were blessed with mercurial players. These guys could not only control a game, but also were spectacular in attack. You just don’t get that in modern rugby players these days.
After 40 years of watching top flight rugby, many have impressed, but none more than Ollie Campbell, Jason Robinson and this lad Davies. Different gravy.
a reminder that there's no substitute for raw speed, it's nice to see the little guy shred everything in his path, the bloke was literally running for his life - because there wasn't much to fall back onto where he was from.
Good old Jiffy! He may sound a bit funereal as a pundit, but what a player. The first Rugby League match I ever saw him play was the one on here for Widnes where Canberra's Laurie Daley almost takes his head off. I think he won over a lot of sceptics that night. I'd seen him in Rugby Union and wondered at how skinny he looked, but he made the grade in RL, and then some.
I think the best convert to rugby league ive seen.. What a player his footwork & timing and his ability to beat defenders in both codes ALL BLACK Terry Wright and Kangaroo Brett Mullins were absolute race horses but both were casualties of Jonathan Davies
Femi Balogun: Far too few realise just how good he was.Too many criticise him as a pundit,unfairly denigrating him as an old hasbeen,but he knows what he is talking about.One of the true greats.
I watched JD at the Gnoll many times when he played for Neath. He spired me so much and I believe it is whee he not only made his break, but played some of his best rugby (altough I cannot deny how good he was at League too)
+kiefer sutherland No, though he was brilliantly talented he certainly wasn't the best at union- in fact i think he generally underperformed for Wales, unfortunate with the period he played for the country. Barry John, Phil Bennett, Cliff Morgan were better Welsh outside halfs. He was better at league, i.m.o. And Maradona is overrated, reality doesn't match the myths.
The try at 0:22 showed his toughness- quite early in his League career, if memory serves, and nearly had his head knocked off. He was fine at Union but i think better still at League.
Johnathan Davies was the best flyhalf Wales ever produced by a country mile.Barry John and Phil Bennett were good , but Johnathan Davies was simply brilliant and had speed the others never had.
Er, sorry John but Barry John and Phil Bennett were a bit better than 'good'. I'm a huge fan of Jonathan and saw him play but he has the benefit of many recordings. If we had video footage of all of Barry John's performances, ditto Phil Bennett, I think you would give them a bit more credit. Most of the clips here are from his League days when he had developed as a player. His performances for Wales (union) were good but not in the league of Phil Bennett or Barry John.
Was a Halifax fan at Thrum Hall when he produced the two tries highlighted here. I remember thinking 'oh no!' when the ball was in his hands. There was an air gloomy inevitability when he set off for the sticks. Only other players to give that sense of trepidation was Hanley and Offiah....different players but for me, Davies was the complete player. If there was a Top Trump cards for Rugby players, Davies would be highest card in the pack.
Three things: 1. Someone (I can't remember who) said that they have only ever seen two players who could change direction without their feet being on the ground, one was JD, the other was Jason Robinson. 2. Kicking game, defence and thinking on his feet, the only other players who come close to him, (league and/ or union) are Campese and Lockyer. 3. Five times international! Wales RU&RL, British & Irish Lions RU, British Lions RL, and for the icing on the cake, The Barbarians. One of my favourite all time players, 15 or 13... and I'm English.
80s and 90s a lot union players from Britain, NZ and oz moved to league. Jonathan Davies, tuigamala, Frano botica, mathew ridge, daryl halligan, Michael o Connor, Gouley,
First Australian/Wallabies RU convert to lift the famous RL Challenge cup was Herb Gilbert as captain of Hull FC in 1914(he was 26), he was one of the first dual code internationals, career at Hull interupted by WWI he went on to play for Western & Eastern Suburbs, St.George until his retirment in 1921 then coached St.George for 4 years. You'd be surprised how many union players came to play league long before the 80/90s, the 50s/60s/70s was also a huge period for players coming over to play TGG.
Shame I Never Really Got To See Him Play As He Started His Career In 1982 And I Wasn't Born Then & Retired In 1997 When I Was 7. Shame Cause From The Clips Ive Seen He Was The All Round Backs Player. Basically If You Had Sam Tomkins Or Billy Slater,Martin Offiah,Brian O'Driscoll & Dan Carter/Kevin Sinfield All Rolled Into 1 Player You Have 1 Very Special Rugby Footballer - Jonathan Davies
@welldai Errr, he was better at league. He once stated he felt like a pariah when he went back to Union. Whatever, the man was the best League player I witnessed for GB.
as a union man, I can't believe what I'm seeing. After 1988, JD ceased to exist for me. I had no idea he had so much pace - like a winger - he must be the fastest running 10 I've ever seen in union.. n'est pas?
While Phil Bennet for me was the greatest flyhalf.. Davis was the complete player, turn a game in an instant.. some of his touch finders from the old wales days were sublime…
your not wrong bro Rugby in this country is a religion and the talent here is unbelieveable, a year ago we were all fighting for the world cup and in this current All Blacks side a lot of those guys were not even on the Radar like Aaron smith, Ratelick, Savea, Barrett this is just a few theres other guys named T.J Perenara and Tawera kerr-Barlow pressing Smith and Weepu for that 9 jersey and they know that, Andre Taylor sitting behind Izzy Dagg for his jersey,Rene Ranger cant even get a mention
wales lost, davies, quinnell and gibbs (among others) to league during the 90's... would england have been so dominant in the 5N in this period? Did the english press EVER refer to this when describing 'poor' welsh performances? you know the answers
Little Englander hateful rabid nationalist gutter press. The Daily Heil/Mail supported Hitler and would again, the Express and Sun are also obsessed with foreigners and immigrants- all 3 papers owned by greedy bigoted billionaires conning the masses.
I’m from Wales, the reason he left was because of the WRU and how they treated players. We had come third in the World Cup and then lost to Romania! Players and the team were so demoralised.
The best ever. You can argue Barry John, Dan Carter and a few others... But imagine this beast playing behind the Forwards those two were gifted with. Jiffy proved his worth when he went to RL (to the eternal shame of the small minded Narcissists of the WRU).. In good teams, Jonathon Davies was unplayable. Then.... off to Australia he pops.... "Nah warries sport, we'll put this drongo in traction" said the Aussies ...They couldnt get near him
Davies was the only bit of class you had at the time. In fact looking at the all time record for Wales against the All Blacks it seems that for all but 3 encounters Wales RU were all not aware of what was going on. When he played on teams where the rest of the players were as competent as he was, his true quality was undeniable.
Greatest ever player across both codes. What a player 👏
For me, THE best Union to League convert of the lot. Had it all. Pace, awareness, tough as teak and a game winner. What a player!
Not after an argument but Watkins, Fielding at Salford, Bevan to the Wires, Scott Gibbs to Saints, Inga ( whats his name ) to Wigan. Yer Jiffy just pips Gibbs 🙂
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂what a load of bollocks !
As a diehard All Blacks fan growing up in NZ this guy Davies was one of my favorite players. Truly a Legend!
a pity he played behind some poor Welsh packs or he would have distinguished himself more at union.
@@mizofanhe was still the Maradona of rugby
Great to see both league and union fans agreeing on how good he was. He was brilliant.
without doubt the best rugby player I'ver ever seen, could do things that other players could only dream of doing...absolutely sensational!
Fishing is even more popular in more countries, what’s your point?
Fantastic compilation. JD was a genius in both codes, great vision, acceleration and side step. I can't think of another player like him.
Such a gifted player and intelligent TV commentator and pundit. One of my favourite Welsh rugby players - his try against the Kangaroos where he ran around Bret Mullins was one of the best, Mullins was frequently doing that to opposition players himself (he was freakishly fast) and for someone to do it against him was inconceivable.
blistering pace, sidestep ,swerve , tough as nails a complete player
wigan fan.
i'm pretty young i was actually born in 1994 so all i have seen of Jonathan davies is him being a pundit on bbc but to see some of his tries, well.. wow
Not only was he a success in both codes, but also in Australia too. Don't think there's many other players that can say that.
It's just a shame that he didn't play for the Kangaroos. He would have prospered massively.
@@jamesmccann355 sadly he was born in Trimsaran not Tasmania 😂
@@vantheman1238 These days he would have qualified to though.
He was the quickest rugby league player ever to score a Thousand points in Rugby League ever back in the early 1990's great player must give him credit where it is well deserved .
i meet him a few fair times and spent time with him when he was at widnes.i was on the ground staff.he always came in for kicking practise on his own on tuesday and thursday mornings.i was his catcher underneath the sticks as he was booting them over.i was kicking them back lucky enough to watch him playing in a magical widnes side and when he went to warrington and at great britain level.magical player.also outstanding in australia particularly for canterbury bulldogs.respect forever jiffy.
ste blease
Sadly you never met him in your life. Please, stop making things up.
Thank you for that butt ,,,Much appreciated
People forget, but Davies was also a brave and tenacious tackler.
The don't forget.. everyone knows he played league
@@saindberry he was a good tackler before he played league.
man of the match v Australia, not just for that superb try but some great tackling too.
What a player - brilliant pundit too, speaks a lot of sense about the game.
Can I just commend you, Spacecowboy149, on a beautifully put together video. Lots of the tribute videos on the web these days just have loud music clouding the commentary and none of it matches the footage. You've edited the footage and commentary to link in very nicely with what is a very appropriate musical overture. Great stuff.
Fantastic. All the vision and skills but with unreal pace, both from off the mark and when going up a gear in full flight. Great upload - thanks.
One of the best ever, amazing skill, amazing pace...as a Wales supporter, only sorry he went north...
Respect...bow! What a fantastically gifted rugby player...Speed, fantastic skill and vision...one of the all time rugby greats!
One of greatest rugby vids on RUclips
Best 10 Wales ever had playing in the wrong era.
Could have been the best but wasn't
And people claim he doesnt know anything about rugby and is a terrible pundit...he is one of the few people that know how the game should be played
GB Rugby league team had some amazing talent in the late 80's and early 90's with the likes of Davies, offiah, Hanley, schoefield etc. all amazing talents but the speed and swerve of jiffy was unbelievable. Awesome player.
Not just the acceleration but the sustained sprint of a true athlete
Alongside Hanley and others we really should have beaten the Aussies in at least one series but contrived to lose with bizarre stuff happening. However you have to hand it to Mal Meninga and co. Their team was also chock full of genius as well. ! Classic league battles. Considered myself lucky to have been young and watched it all free to air or at Naughton Park with my Dad RIP.
One of the all time greats in the world , he had it all !
I forgot how good he was!! Natural sidestep and pace. Legend
still haven't seen a british man sting the aussies like that and its 23 years later so yeah best in the world on his day freakish rugby knowledge
What a player. No 10 is a religious symbol in Wales. He should be made a Saint. It is so good to see how Rugby should be played i. e. You run around your opponents not through or over them. Feckin brilliant and thanks for the video.
what a brilliant individual player Jonathan was. He would also make any player beside him look good too.
Thanks for putting this video together mate. I've been looking for footage of Jiffy because I remember watching him back in the 80's & 90's. He was an awesome player, skilled and also brave. I remember Wales v Fiji or Samoa in his last Rugby World Cup, he was all over the pitch tackling anything that moved; after the game the commentators said he'd made more tackles than the forwards, ! Thanks again !
He was one pf my fave players back in the day and I'm English. I was sad when he moved to league in 1989, but I understood why. I have yet to see a back in union with better acceleration from a standing start. He got into 5th gear very quickly.
Don’t forget the side steps, he could do in the speed too.
For me an absolute legend. When I met him at a pre-game do in Cardiff he was such a gent, a truly great bloke. Pity I choked up...
Im a kiwi and a HUGE J.Davies fan,watching all those guys chasing him two of them were Terry Wright while playing against the All Blacks and Brett Mullins from the Kangaroos those guys are not slow.I know they dont give All Black or Kangaroo jerseys to just any body but man he made those two look very ordinary...Special player
He made Mullins look fairly ordinary but Terry Wright came back and was eating the meters up on him...dont get me wrong I loved JD aswell his acceleration over those first 20m was unbelievable.
@@staceyspooner5798 still couldn’t catch him though. If the line wasn’t so close, JD would have used one of his side steps to elude him but yeah, Terry Wright did well to almost catch him👍🏽
The type of player Jonny Wilkinson would love to have been.
Ha ha love that. Christ think how they would have raved about him then. It was/is bad enough as it was.
Outstanding comments!
No World cups though. :D
@Anthony Joshua That's an incorrect comparison or example I believe.
A world cup only takes a few games to win.
Davies broke records in both codes. In Great Britain. One code in Australia.
He could score tries from impossible situations.
Wilkinson played safety first in one.
His points scoring from the boot is outstanding. However. He didn't score many tries.
It's my opinion that he wasn't as exciting as Davies.
I think that's what the original contributor meant. Possibly.
@Firsthgyhgyhuy Lastujhujhuj where's your counter argument?
And to think when he went to League they said he would be too small. Maybe, because of his split time between codes, the most underrated player of all time.
i think you are right
Just want to say....the rugby union watching audiences were denied seeing his talents when he left for the other code...Pity.
Can’t believe Llanelli rejected him 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️neath saw the talent and thank god he didn’t end up a painter and decorator. Can you imagine what we would have lost.
Hope that there’s mileage for all “smaller framed” folks in muscle sports with cheslin, Shane Williams, Faf de Klerk, Schalk Britts!!, kwagga smith etc. all being told they weren’t good enough as they were too small.
Great video...JD at Wembley in 1994 was awesome. not just the try - his defence was fantastic too.
The acceleration on the guy was breathtaking.
Great player it's a pity that the WRU messed the Welsh game up at the time because I'am sure Jiffy would have stayed in Wales if they'd have modernised our club teams .
Absolute legend. Unbelievable skills. He is the best.
I have just had the pleasure of spending this Friday night on the piss with him in Spain for a corporate doo….. not only one of the best players (of both codes) but a truly lovely bloke….. living legend.
I saw him play “live” many many times. He was magical to watch just like Offiah and for different reasons Kurt sorenson. My Widnes lads of the early 90s were amazing to watch but Wigan had that Indian sign o er us as did Leeds sometimes.
I loved the premiership final against Bradford northern which I watched from one of the best old standing areas ever created the old old Trafford paddock. Wonderful times. Wonderful player. Thanks Jonathan.
saying that this guy is good is such an understament he is a legend! :-)
I'm English but he was easily the best 10 in union in the amateur era. Shame we lost him to league.
The crazy thing is, I'd love to chuck him straight into a wales greatest ever 15 but we also had the likes of Barry John & Phil Bennett in the same position. We've been truly blessed with number 10's over the years.
legend in both rugby sports
One of the greats from Wales
great vid spacecowboy, well edited to the musci as well, Jonathan Davies going north broke my heart in 88 what a player he was and a nice bloke too met him in Cardiff in the flyhalf and firkin, top bloke
Feckin amazing that's why Rugby's a religion and an art form too when played like this. JD so privileged to have seen him live but all this is great too AND keeps his skills alive for all to marvel at.
What a special player. Sad for him that during his time Welsh rugby union was nothing more than a cinder of what it had been in the 70s.
I agree...for that reason, I reckon he is one of the most underrated Union players of all time.
A class act, and despite what someone said on here, a very insightful commentator. Would love to see more of the 7s match against New Zealand - been hoping someone would upload footage at some stage..
great player with massive acceleration from standing start, with fantastic ability to step off both feet and leave defenders floundering.
Look how early he steps and then uses his acceleration to move away from defender. Totally unique style.
He could out-flank his opposite no.10 often and create numbers out wide.
Johnathon Davies i loved watching him play at the Bulldogs
Wasn’t sure at first of this compilation but well done. Great stuff
Pure magic. John, Edwards, Bennet and Davies. Jeez, Wales were blessed with mercurial players. These guys could not only control a game, but also were spectacular in attack. You just don’t get that in modern rugby players these days.
Fuck me, i never knew he was this good. I thought he was just another pundit
The Welsh Wizard!! GENIUS 👊
After 40 years of watching top flight rugby, many have impressed, but none more than Ollie Campbell, Jason Robinson and this lad Davies. Different gravy.
a reminder that there's no substitute for raw speed, it's nice to see the little guy shred everything in his path, the bloke was literally running for his life - because there wasn't much to fall back onto where he was from.
Good old Jiffy! He may sound a bit funereal as a pundit, but what a player. The first Rugby League match I ever saw him play was the one on here for Widnes where Canberra's Laurie Daley almost takes his head off. I think he won over a lot of sceptics that night. I'd seen him in Rugby Union and wondered at how skinny he looked, but he made the grade in RL, and then some.
Right up there with the best of all time. Running lines, timing, hands, vision, but the wheels oh my days the wheels JD. Electric to watch.
I think the best convert to rugby league ive seen..
What a player his footwork & timing and his ability to beat defenders in both codes ALL BLACK Terry Wright and Kangaroo Brett Mullins were absolute race horses but both were casualties of Jonathan Davies
This is the guy i thought of when i first saw christen cullen play
omg i didnt realise jiffy was this good
Femi Balogun: Far too few realise just how good he was.Too many criticise him as a pundit,unfairly denigrating him as an old hasbeen,but he knows what he is talking about.One of the true greats.
Doesn't matter what level you play, there's no better feeling than skinning your oponent and dropping it in over the line.
I watched JD at the Gnoll many times when he played for Neath. He spired me so much and I believe it is whee he not only made his break, but played some of his best rugby (altough I cannot deny how good he was at League too)
Ahead of his time loved to watch him play from SA 🇿🇦🇿🇦
His off the mark pace at that time was probably the best in world rugby
I would go as far to say Billie Slater was the closest thing to the modern day Jonathan Davies. Super tries. Superb video.
A superb player. Pure class. Wish he had more involvement in presenting and representing the modern game.
The speed of the man....incredible
0:36 Renouf and Mullins are no slouches! Shows how quick Davies really was.
What a player.
"Ill leave you standing "...!!....WELSH LEGEND
THE Diego Maradonna of Rugby Union, i.e. the best ever. Priestland/Hook/Biggar not fit to lace his boots
and...he was quite good at Rugby League too...
+kiefer sutherland No, though he was brilliantly talented he certainly wasn't the best at union- in fact i think he generally underperformed for Wales, unfortunate with the period he played for the country. Barry John, Phil Bennett, Cliff Morgan were better Welsh outside halfs. He was better at league, i.m.o. And Maradona is overrated, reality doesn't match the myths.
@@mizofan Have you ever seen Maradona play?
The comparison to make is with Phil Bennett and Barry John.
The try at 0:22 showed his toughness- quite early in his League career, if memory serves, and nearly had his head knocked off. He was fine at Union but i think better still at League.
Fucking hell..... I’d forgotten just how good a player he was.
best player i ever saw, love that step against newcastle at 2.05 just here phil gould go oh, classic
My favourite rugby player. Sheer class.
Brilliant video, thanks for uploading this collection of clips onto youtube
Great player....also, people forget but he was a very good tackler as well.
Johnathan Davies was the best flyhalf Wales ever produced by a country mile.Barry John and Phil Bennett were good , but Johnathan Davies was simply brilliant and had speed the others never had.
Er, sorry John but Barry John and Phil Bennett were a bit better than 'good'. I'm a huge fan of Jonathan and saw him play but he has the benefit of many recordings. If we had video footage of all of Barry John's performances, ditto Phil Bennett, I think you would give them a bit more credit. Most of the clips here are from his League days when he had developed as a player. His performances for Wales (union) were good but not in the league of Phil Bennett or Barry John.
Was a Halifax fan at Thrum Hall when he produced the two tries highlighted here. I remember thinking 'oh no!' when the ball was in his hands. There was an air gloomy inevitability when he set off for the sticks. Only other players to give that sense of trepidation was Hanley and Offiah....different players but for me, Davies was the complete player. If there was a Top Trump cards for Rugby players, Davies would be highest card in the pack.
Remember the converts Billy Boston Wigan, Clive Sullivan Hull , Dai Watkins all great and many more Welsh converts .
Three things:
1. Someone (I can't remember who) said that they have only ever seen two players who could change direction without their feet being on the ground, one was JD, the other was Jason Robinson.
2. Kicking game, defence and thinking on his feet, the only other players who come close to him, (league and/ or union) are Campese and Lockyer.
3. Five times international! Wales RU&RL, British & Irish Lions RU, British Lions RL, and for the icing on the cake, The Barbarians.
One of my favourite all time players, 15 or 13... and I'm English.
80s and 90s a lot union players from Britain, NZ and oz moved to league. Jonathan Davies, tuigamala, Frano botica, mathew ridge, daryl halligan, Michael o Connor, Gouley,
First Australian/Wallabies RU convert to lift the famous RL Challenge cup was Herb Gilbert as captain of Hull FC in 1914(he was 26), he was one of the first dual code internationals, career at Hull interupted by WWI he went on to play for Western & Eastern Suburbs, St.George until his retirment in 1921 then coached St.George for 4 years. You'd be surprised how many union players came to play league long before the 80/90s, the 50s/60s/70s was also a huge period for players coming over to play TGG.
Shame I Never Really Got To See Him Play As He Started His Career In 1982 And I Wasn't Born Then & Retired In 1997 When I Was 7. Shame Cause From The Clips Ive Seen He Was The All Round Backs Player. Basically If You Had Sam Tomkins Or Billy Slater,Martin Offiah,Brian O'Driscoll & Dan Carter/Kevin Sinfield All Rolled Into 1 Player You Have 1 Very Special Rugby Footballer - Jonathan Davies
3:00 brilliant timing on the edit, WOOO!
I'd forgotten how quick he was. The best ever. And I'm English...
@welldai Errr, he was better at league. He once stated he felt like a pariah when he went back to Union. Whatever, the man was the best League player I witnessed for GB.
as a union man, I can't believe what I'm seeing. After 1988, JD ceased to exist for me. I had no idea he had so much pace - like a winger - he must be the fastest running 10 I've ever seen in union.. n'est pas?
He didn't really fulfil his great talent and potential with Wales, but he didn't have the best players with him, in a relatively weak era.
@@mizofan It wasn't a relatively weak era but a very weak era. Welsh rugby in the late 1980s and through most of the 1990s was shambolic.
A fantastic player.
wtaf at the 2 minute mark - gets around andrew johns gets around paul harragon - two of the best players ive seen
He was named player of the 1993-94 season, winning the RFL's Man of Steel Award.
the last full one was my favourite
While Phil Bennet for me was the greatest flyhalf.. Davis was the complete player, turn a game in an instant.. some of his touch finders from the old wales days were sublime…
Class Personified! :)
your not wrong bro Rugby in this country is a religion and the talent here is unbelieveable, a year ago we were all fighting for the world cup and in this current All Blacks side a lot of those guys were not even on the Radar like Aaron smith, Ratelick, Savea, Barrett this is just a few theres other guys named T.J Perenara and Tawera kerr-Barlow pressing Smith and Weepu for that 9 jersey and they know that, Andre Taylor sitting behind Izzy Dagg for his jersey,Rene Ranger cant even get a mention
Nicknamed The Welsh Wizard by the Aussie press .
wales lost, davies, quinnell and gibbs (among others) to league during the 90's... would england have been so dominant in the 5N in this period? Did the english press EVER refer to this when describing 'poor' welsh performances? you know the answers
Little Englander hateful rabid nationalist gutter press. The Daily Heil/Mail supported Hitler and would again, the Express and Sun are also obsessed with foreigners and immigrants- all 3 papers owned by greedy bigoted billionaires conning the masses.
I’m from Wales, the reason he left was because of the WRU and how they treated players.
We had come third in the World Cup and then lost to Romania! Players and the team were so demoralised.
Rockstar.
Can you imagine if he hadn't had Asthma ?
Well you've got to give 'um a chance innit.
The best ever. You can argue Barry John, Dan Carter and a few others...
But imagine this beast playing behind the Forwards those two were gifted with. Jiffy proved his worth
when he went to RL (to the eternal shame of the small minded Narcissists of the WRU).. In good teams,
Jonathon Davies was unplayable. Then.... off to Australia he pops....
"Nah warries sport, we'll put this drongo in traction" said the Aussies
...They couldnt get near him
Davies was the only bit of class you had at the time. In fact looking at the all time record for Wales against the All Blacks it seems that for all but 3 encounters Wales RU were all not aware of what was going on. When he played on teams where the rest of the players were as competent as he was, his true quality was undeniable.
Wow....... Superb!!
beyond awesome such a little guy