In profile with Sam Davis

In profile with Sam Davis

Sam Davis was born in 1998 in Burbage in Leicestershire into what is a Rugby Union dominated part of the country with Leicester Tigers being the local side. 

Growing up he would watch his dad Ian play rugby along with his younger and older brothers. His elder brother Matt would later become a London Broncos, paving the way for Sam’s journey with the club. His dad was also a very good speedway racer and would regularly be racing with his sons watching on.

At high school was when Sam’s talents for rugby were really beginning to show;

“In year 8 is when we went off to trial for Leicester Tigers so at around the age of 12 is when I can remember first being nervous about stepping out onto a rugby field. 

“It’s a strange environment in Union (trials) compared to League, it’s very cagey and lots of the lads didn’t speak to each other. Everyone was so nervous so it was a good experience so it definitely helped me going forward but as a kid it was quite a lot going to these places and fighting for a spot.”

Sports-mad as a youngster Sam was playing rugby union, football and cricket but “there was no League at school.” Rugby League was actually introduced to the family through his grandmother who was from Saint Helens so throughout his childhood Sam would keep an eye on their results;

“Growing up spending time with my Nan I remember watching Saints on the TV on a Sunday in the Challenge Cup so I was a bit of a Saints fan growing up and eventually the time came at around 15 to start playing. 

“There were 9s tournaments in the area and I played for Leicester Storm originally and then eventually moved on to play scholarship for Midlands Hurricanes against teams like Leeds & Bradford so that’s when it kind of came to fruition.”

Sam’s older brother will be someone incredibly familiar with London Broncos fans. Matt Davis is two years older and came through the Broncos academy, making his debut in 2015. Matt has since gone on to play for Warrington Wolves and is currently at fellow Super League side Leigh Leopards.

“We pretty much followed the exact same path; we both got into (Leicester) Tigers, both got left out of the Tigers system and then went into Rugby League before finding our way into Broncos. Our track to the Broncos first team was pretty much the same so it’s quite funny really and we now find ourselves both in the Super League!”

“Our relationship with each other is great, we’ve never really been competitive with each other. It's been more “how can we help each other?” It’s always been like that. That’s why we have such a good relationship - that’s why we are best mates because we always look out for each other.”

When Sam was in first year academy at Midlands Hurricanes, whilst he was at Sixth Form, and Matt was already in the Broncos first team was when he was first invited down to London.

“There were 4 of us from the Midlands who came down and trialled with Broncos and we all got picked up and started playing games pretty much straight away. It was Louis Godfrey and Jacob Ogden who also played with me in the first team.”

In 2018 Broncos gained promotion to Super League after a Grand Final victory over Toronto. Matt, a key player that year whilst Sam, was a first team squad member, was a peripheral figure in the squad. Experiencing and getting a taste for that success would ultimately motivate him to speed up his progress into the team and eventually lead him to replicate a similar Grand Final success in 2023.

“In round 1 of the 2018 season I made my debut against Barrow, when I was only a third year academy, and then in my second game I scored my first try and to do that alongside my brother was a really proud moment for me.

“Watching the boys get promoted, all of us young lads were watching them in Toronto and that was massive for me seeing those boys get promoted to Super League.”

With promotion to Super League in 2019 and Sam still a young player it was decided that a loan move would be best for his development and there were temporary spells at Coventry Bears before moving permanently to York Knights;

“With the greatest respect to the league for me it was more of a pressure release (at Coventry), so I could go down and you can play your rugby and you don’t need to worry too much about making mistakes just going and enjoying your rugby. That got the best out of me - that’s when I played my best rugby when I was playing freely.

“There then came a transition for the club (Broncos) and it felt like the right time to go away (to York). It felt like the right thing to do at the time but I had a big injury (acl injury) and without that move away I wouldn’t have developed as a player and a person.”

Never fully settling in York and Mike Eccles was now in charge at London, then came the opportunity for Sam to return to the club;

“We were half way through the season and Mike took over and I wasn’t playing regular minutes at the time and he called me up and asked if I wanted to come back and for me it was a no brainer. I just wanted to play regular rugby so I came back right away and just slotted right back in to where I was before loving it with the lads.

“Seeing the lads getting promoted in 2018 was almost bittersweet as I wasn’t involved and you want a taste of cup-final football so to get the opportunity to do that last season was amazing. To see Matt lift the Challenge Cup trophy (with Leigh) a month earlier at Wembley for my family is something I’ll never forget.”

Sam Davis is sponsored by Judith Knox for the 2024 season.