It was ‘Arise, Sir Gerald’ at Windsor Castle this week as the former president of the Welsh Rugby Union, Gerald Davies was knighted by the Prince of Wales. And the 80-year-old former London Welsh, Cardiff, Wales and British & Irish Lions legend was keen to stress the value of volunteers and volunteering after receiving his […]
It was ‘Arise, Sir Gerald’ at Windsor Castle this week as the former president of the Welsh Rugby Union, Gerald Davies was knighted by the Prince of Wales.
And the 80-year-old former London Welsh, Cardiff, Wales and British & Irish Lions legend was keen to stress the value of volunteers and volunteering after receiving his honour from the Patron oif the WRU, Prince William.
“I’ve done a lot of local things, nothing in a major international sense I don’t think, but giving my time, when it’s asked for, for small institutions, voluntary contributions to whatever is going on in the community,” explained Sir Gerald to PA News.
“What people don’t often recognise or give credit for is the amount of voluntary work that’s being done by people right throughout the country, in small clubs, small institutions, but they give up their time freely, without payment, and I think we need to support those in far more than we have done.
“If you put a price on a voluntary contribution, it becomes a huge burden on that institution. We need to recognise and praise them more than we do at the moment.”
As well as becoming one of the most famous rugby players in the history of the game in Wales, winning three Grand Slams in his 12 year, 46-cap international career before going on to serve on the WRU Board and finally taking over as president, he has also served Welsh life in many other ways.
His latest honour – he was made CBE in 2003 – came not only for his services to rugby union, but also for his voluntary and charitable service in Wales.
He was both chair of the Wales Youth Agency and Cardiff Business Club, while he has also helped out at the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in St David’s. He is also a member of the Eisteddfod Gorsedd of Bards and is a past Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Gwent.
He was inducted onto the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame’s ‘Roll of Honour’ in 1992 and made a member of the World Rugby Hall of fame in 2015. He served as a national representative on the board of directors of the WRU from 2005-14 and was elected president of the WRU in October 2019.
He was the tour manager for the Lions tour to South Africa in 2009 and then chairman of the Lions board between 2010-2014. He twice toured with the Lions in 1968 and 1971 as a player, helping them to beat New Zealand in the 1971 series.
He became chairman of the PRO12, the professional rugby tournament for Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Italian and South African sides, and remains a trustee of the Barbarians Charitable Trust.
Having initially worked as a schoolteacher after leaving Cambridge University, after retiring as a player in 1978 he became a journalist with the BBC and The Times newspaper. He sat on the Sir Tasker Watkins committee that examined ways to reform Welsh rugby.
He was an Executive Officer with Sport Wales and a non-executive Director and Chairman of HTV. He has been awarded Honorary Fellowships from the Universities of Lampeter, Aberystwyth, Swansea and Cardiff.
He described receiving his knighthood as being “a bit overwhelming”, but that he was delighted as it represented “a major honour” in his life.
Asked about his conversation with William, who is patron of the WRU, he said: “When I was [WRU] president I was in his company a good deal, because he followed the game and he quite liked rugby, he quite liked the position that he held with Wales and he turned up for the games. I sat next to him so I got to know him quite well.
“We covered a little bit about the Welsh rugby and how wonderful it was to see him again. He is great company and very knowledgeable about rugby.”