Rugby World Cup: Wales scrum-half Gareth Davies in shape of his life
- Published
No-one in the Wales squad has more World Cup tries than Gareth Davies
Rejuvenated Wales scrum-half Gareth Davies says he is enjoying rugby again during a World Cup campaign that has seen him produce record-breaking form.
His early touchdown in the 40-6 rout of Australia set a new World Cup best of eight tries for a scrum-half.
"I love the World Cup, I love the build-up to them," said Davies.
"It is the only time that we really get a full pre-season [with Wales]. It has been a tough couple of months, but I have enjoyed it."
Davies feared his Test career was over when he missed out on Wales' South Africa tour last year, the 2022 autumn Tests and then the Six Nations campaign two months later.
Then-head coach Wayne Pivac preferred players like Tomos Williams, Kieran Hardy and Dane Blacker.
And although Warren Gatland returned for last season's Six Nations, Williams, Hardy and Rhys Webb fought for the number nine shirt.
Crucially, though, a door opened for the 33-year-old when Gatland named Davies in the World Cup training squad - and he has not looked back.
He starred in the tournament warm-up victory over England and regained the number nine shirt for key Pool C wins against Fiji and Australia
"Physically and mentally, I feel like I am in the best shape of my life," said Davies.
"I am really enjoying my rugby again. We are all back to where we want to be under this management. We are fighting for each other, playing for each other and the environment is good, which is the main thing.
"We are enjoying our time off the pitch as well. We've got a good bunch of boys, and it shows."
Davies, who made his Wales debut nine years ago and was the team's starting scrum-half during the 2015 and 2019 tournaments, is once again excelling under Gatland's direction.
He scored five tries at the 2015 World Cup, then two more in Japan four years later - including an interception effort in a pool-stage win over Australia.
"Warren has got his way," added Davies.
"It works for me and it obviously works for everyone else in the squad. It gets us all going.
"The other coaches as well, Mike (Forshaw) with defence, Kingy (Alex King) in attack and Humphs (Jonathan Humphreys) with the forwards.
"We've had a lot of changes with coaches and I think that's made the difference."
Wales' crushing success against Australia has secured a quarter-final place, a feat achieved under Gatland for a fourth World Cup in a row.
It has set up a potential last-eight meeting with Argentina in Marseille on October 14.
"I thought our win in 2019 against Australia in the World Cup was big, but this is right up there," said Davies.
"Momentum is key, especially in World Cups. We had a good week's training preparing for the game and it showed on the pitch.
"We won't look too far ahead of ourselves. We have a few days off to recover and then focus on Georgia the following weekend.
"We have still got a job to do against them first and then we will start looking at the quarter-final draw."
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