12 Facts About Mervyn Davies

Thomas Mervyn Davies, often known as "Merv the Swerve", was a Welsh rugby union player who won 38 caps for Wales as a No 8.

Mervyn Davies joined London Welsh in 1968, later moving to Swansea.

Mervyn Davies won his first cap for Wales in 1969 against Scotland, going on to play 38 consecutive matches for Wales and scoring two tries.

Mervyn Davies went on the British and Irish Lions tours to New Zealand in 1971 and to South Africa in 1974, playing in all eight tests.

Colin Meads said Mervyn Davies was "the one player who probably had the biggest impact on that 1971 Lions Test series, " particularly as he prevented NZ winning line out ball via Brian Lochore.

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In 2001 Mervyn Davies was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame.

Mervyn Davies continues to be rated as one of the best No 8s ever to have played the game.

Mervyn Davies's career was ended by a subarachnoid hemorrhage suffered when captaining Swansea against Pontypool in 1976.

Mervyn Davies had collapsed during a game on another occasion, four years earlier, and had been wrongly diagnosed with meningitis.

Mervyn Davies was a smoker and was diagnosed with lung cancer in November 2011.

Mervyn Davies had a son and daughter by his first wife Shirley; the marriage ended in divorce.

Mervyn Davies is survived by his second wife Jeni and his three stepchildren, and by his two children from his first marriage.