100 Greatest All Blacks: Bill Davis

In their Hawkes Bay heyday in the mid to late sixties, current NZRU president Ian McRae and Bill Davis were a punishing midfield back combination.

They were as valuable to the All Blacks as Walter Little and Frank Bunce were in the 90's and Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith have been this decade.

Davis was the blade whose speed and subtle skills were noticed from an early age. He was cherry-picked from Hastings Boys High as an 18-year old to turn out for the Magpies and also earned several All Black trials.

After McRae arrived at the province the pair were picked for the 1963 All Black tour to the UK but it was not until four years later that Davis made his test debut against the Wallabies.

He had the pace of a sprinter but he also had a wiry frame that was strong enough to cope with the physical attrition in midfield. Davis was quickly into action on his All Black test debut with several slicing runs and a try when he retrieved a kick from McRae and dummied his way to a touchdown.

Davis headed off on his international journey where his skills and speed were a constant menace. The Wallabies thought so in 1968 and when they tackled Davis in the final minutes without the ball, referee Kevin Crowe awarded the All Blacks a test-saving penalty try.

Davis brought the balance, pace and vision which were not a regular backplay trait in those times. He was a durable tourist playing many matches outside tests during the 1967 tour to the UK and the 1970 trip to South Africa before he retired from rugby to concentrate on playing softball for New Zealand.

Statistics
Date of birth: 15 December 1942
Position: Centre
Test debut: 19 August 1967 v Australia at Wellington
Final test: 8 August 1970 v South Africa at Cape Town
Matches: 53
Tests: 11
Province: Hawkes Bay
Test tries: 3
Test points: 9