CURUFC are sad to mark the passing of William Philip Cathcart Davies. Universally known as Phil, he passed away on 25 January aged 89, and he was the most senior surviving CURUFC British Lion.
Phil Davies studied at St Catherine’s Cambridge between 1950 and 1953, and was one of the very rare and elite group of CURUFC players who became both an International and a British Lion without actually winning a Blue. He did play on many occasions for the University, and toured Japan with Cambridge in 1953. He was widely considered to be an excellent centre of great physical power, and achieved a measure of celebrity in his time.
He earned eight caps in five years between 1953 and 1958 and went on the British Lions tour of 1955 to South Africa alongside fellow Cambridge players AR Smith and RCC Thomas who were stalwarts of the Scotland (Smith 33 caps) and Wales (Thomas 26 Caps) sides – huge numbers for that era.
Phil’s career was initially as a Biology teacher, and he then became a preparatory school headmaster, most notably at Cheltenham College Junior School from 1964 to 1986.
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