Thomas Patrick David (born 2 April 1948) is a Welsh former dual-code international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

er who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He was born in Pontypridd, and played representative rugby union (RU) for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and the British Lions and rugby league (RL) for

. He was selected for the 1974 British Lions tour to South Africa, and at the time played club rugby for

Llanelli RFC Llanelli Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh rugby union club founded on 30 March 1872. The club's historic home ground was Stradey Park in Llanelli, but they moved in 2008 to the new Parc y Scarlets in adjacent Pemberton. The club song is " ...

. He also played for his home-town club

Pontypridd RFC Pontypridd Rugby Football Club () is a rugby union team from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It competes in the Admiral Premiership and the WRU Premiership Cup, a trophy which they won for the 7th time in 2025. Their last league title ...

, and while at the club was part of the 1976 Grand Slam winning Wales team. In 1981 he switched codes to rugby league, representing

Cardiff City Blue Dragons Cardiff City Blue Dragons were a rugby league team formed in 1981. Their home ground was initially Ninian Park, which was also used by Cardiff City F.C. The club spent three seasons in Cardiff before relocating to Bridgend in 1984 as the Brid ...

Rugby career

Thomas David commonly known as Tom or Tommy, was given the nickname "Tom the Bomb", and was noted for his diving, try-scoring prowess, which would be used to great effect in Pontypridd's 1975/76 season.Smith (1980), p. 429. David was a fitter by trade, but would later become a company director.Jenkins (1991), p. 35. David was a keen rugby player as a youth, and represented his school, Hawthorn Secondary Modern before joining Pontypridd. In 1972 he switched to Llanelli, and was chosen to face

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

when the All Blacks played Llanelli as part of their 1972/73 tour. The game saw a historic win for Llanelli, beating New Zealand 9–3. This was the first of two encounters for David against the same touring All Blacks as he also played flanker in the

Barbarian A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

side of 1973 who were victorious against

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park (), also known as The Arms Park, is primarily a rugby union stadium, and also has a bowling green. It is situated in Cardiff, Wales, next to the Millennium Stadium. The Arms Park was host to the 1958 British Empire and Common ...

. In between the two victories, the Wales national team also faced the New Zealanders, and many critics felt that David's robust style of play and heavy tackling, which he took to the All Blacks with Llanelli, should have been rewarded with his first international cap.Smith (1980), p. 430. David was not selected for the game, and Wales lost the game 19–16. While with Llanelli, David was first selected to represent the Wales national team, in an encounter with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

as part of the 1973 Five Nations Championship. Although Wales lost the game, David was reselected for the very next Wales game against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

who were touring England and Wales. David was forced to pull out of the Wales team for the opening game of the 1974 Championship, against Scotland, through injury.Smith (1980), p. 444. This allowed

Pontypool Pontypool ( ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire in South Wales. , it has a population of 29,062. Locat ...

Terry Cobner Terence John Cobner (born 10 January 1946)
Scrum.com is a former In 1974, David was selected for the British Lions team to tour South Africa. David played in nine games, but was not selected for any of the Test games against the South African national team. On the tour David scored five tries against the regional teams, including two in the opening game against Western Transvaal. In 1976, despite being a popular figure at

Stradey Park Stradey Park (Welsh: ''Parc y Strade'') was a rugby union stadium located near the centre of the town of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It was the home of the Scarlets region and Llanelli RFC rugby teams. The stadium was a combination of ...

, David rejoined Pontypridd. With Pontypridd, David won the Welsh Club Championship in the 1975/76 season, and regained his international place with Wales. His third cap was an encounter away to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

during the

1976 Five Nations Championship The 1976 Five Nations Championship was the 47th series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 82nd series of the northern hemis ...

. Wales had already won the first two matches of the tournament over England and Scotland, and Wales then beat Ireland after a rapid turn around of fortunes thanks to the attacking flair of

Phil Bennett Philip Bennett (24 October 1948 – 12 June 2022) was a Welsh rugby union player who played as a fly-half for Llanelli RFC and the Wales national rugby union team, Wales national team. He began his career in 1966, and a year later he had taken ...

. David was then selected for the final Wales' game of the Championship, the title decider at home to France. When Wales won the game 19–13, they not only took the Championship but also the Grand Slam. Although he was now a Grand Slam winning player, David never represented Wales under the union code again. David continued to represent Pontypridd, and in the 1979/80 season he was given the captaincy of the senior team. While at Pontypridd he saw the club win three Welsh Club Championships, in 1976, 1978 and 1979. In 1981 David left Ponty, turning to the professional rugby league code. He joined Cardiff RLFC in August 1981 and on 8 November of that year he represented the

Wales national rugby league team The Wales national rugby league team represents Wales in representative rugby league football matches. Currently the team is ranked 17th in the IRL World Rankings. The team was run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, but an inde ...

in a match against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

.Gate (1986), p. 152. He played one final international in 1982, this time a home match to the Australian team.

International matches played

Wales (rugby union) * 1973 * 1973, 1976 * 1976 Wales (rugby league) * 1981 * 1982

International Rugby League honours

David won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

s for

while at Cardiff City (Bridgend) Blue Dragons in 1981 against England and in 1982 against Australia. Before the start of the 1984/85 season, Cardiff City Blue Dragons relocated from

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a association football, football stadium in the Leckwith, Cardiff, Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovatio ...

, to Coychurch Road Ground in

Bridgend Bridgend (; or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge over the River Og ...

, and were renamed Bridgend Blue Dragons.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:David, Tom 1948 births Living people 20th-century Welsh sportsmen Barbarian F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Cardiff City Blue Dragons players Dual-code rugby internationals Llanelli RFC players Pontypridd RFC players Rugby league players from Pontypridd Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Pontypridd Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players