Former Welsh rugby star Gerald Davies has called for greater national recognition and support for volunteers after receiving a knighthood at Windsor Castle.
Sir Gerald, 80, played for Wales for 12 years in the 1960s and 1970s and won three Grand Slams, and went on to serve as president of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).
He was honoured by the Prince of Wales at an investiture ceremony on Wednesday for his services to rugby union, but also for his voluntary and charitable service in Wales.
The former British and Irish Lions wing has been chairman of both 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.
Speaking about his work after being knighted, Sir Gerald told the PA news agency: “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.”
He continued: “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.”
Sir Gerald said receiving a knighthood was “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.”
The Welsh men’s national team have finished bottom in the last two editions of the Six Nations, failing to win a match in either tournament, while the side is currently without a coach following the departure of Warren Gatland.
Sir Gerald side the team needed to rediscover “a winning frame of mind” to start competing for major honours once again.
“The trick is to get that one game, one successful game under your belt, so you can get out of this rut, to gather the momentum to go on to get better results in the future, and that has to happen pretty quickly, I think, in the Welsh setup at the moment,” he added.
Reflecting on his own playing career, Sir Gerald said it was “a wonderful time altogether” to play rugby for Wales, where he earned 46 caps, as he appeared with the same teammates for many years.
