Ashlon Davids

Ashlon Davids (born 24 June 1993) is a South African professional rugby union player for the Pumas in the Currie Cup and the Rugby Challenge.^[1] His regular position is fly-half or fullback.

Ashlon Davids

Date of birth	(1993-06-24) 24 June 1993 (age 30)
Place of birth	Malmesbury, South Africa
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	85 kg (13 st 5 lb; 187 lb)
School	Schoonspruit Hoërskool, Malmesbury
Rugby union career
Position(s) Scrum-half / Fly-half / Fullback Current team Griquas Youth career 2009–2011 Boland Cavaliers 2012–2014 Golden Lions Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 2014 Wits 7 (13) Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2013–2018 Golden Lions XV 31 (102) 2015 → Leopards 3 (5) 2015–2018 Golden Lions 12 (11) 2016–2018 Lions 3 (0) 2019 Pumas 12 (8) 2020– Griquas 21 (14) Correct as of 10 July 2022

Career

Youth / Boland

Davids earned a number of call-ups to represent his home provincial union Boland at youth tournaments at high school level – he played for them at the 2009 Under-16 Grant Khomo Week tournament and at the Under-18 Craven Week tournaments in both 2010 and 2011, scoring one try in each of the latter two tournaments. He was also included in the Boland U19 team that played in Division B of the 2011 Under-19 Provincial Championship, kicking five points in three appearances.

Golden Lions

After high school, Davids moved to Johannesburg, where he linked up with the Golden Lions. He was the first choice fly-half for their Under-19 side in the 2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship, starting ten of their twelve matches during the regular season and playing off the bench in the other two matches. He also contributed a total of three tries, scored in matches against Leopards U19,^[2] Free State U19^[3] and SWD U19.^[4] The Golden Lions finished in fourth position on the log to qualify for the semi-finals and Davids started in the semi-final, where a 14–24 defeat to Western Province U19 eliminated them from the competition.^[5]

In 2013, he was included in the Golden Lions' squad for the 2013 Vodacom Cup competition and he started two matches in the competition; he marked his first class debut against the Falcons by scoring a try in a 22–27 defeat^[6] and then scored two tries and kicked three conversions in their next match, a 26–54 defeat to trans-Jukskei rivals the Blue Bulls.^[7] He made seven appearances for the Golden Lions U21 side in the 2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship – all of those as a replacement – and scored one try in their match against Free State U21 in a 23–25 defeat^[8] as his side finished in fourth spot. He appeared off the bench in their semi-final match, but was on the losing side as Western Province U21 won the match 44–41 after extra time.^[9]

Davids started the 2014 season representing university side Wits in the 2014 Varsity Cup competition. He started all seven of their matches in a disappointing campaign as they failed to win a single match and were relegated to the 2015 Varsity Shield. He was Wits' joint-highest try scorer and second-highest points scorer, contributing 13 points during the competition.^[10] Starting eleven of the Golden Lions U21s' matches in the 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship and coming on as a replacement in the other two, Davids also contributed three tries during the campaign – against Border U21 in a 113–3 win,^[11] Gauteng rivals Blue Bulls U21^[12] and the Leopards U21 side^[13] – to help the Golden Lions finish in third spot. However, for the third year in a row, Davids tasted defeat at this stage of the season as they lost 19–23 to a Blue Bulls side that won the title a week later.^[14]

After playing no first class rugby in 2015, Davids was again included in the Golden Lions' squad for the 2015 Vodacom Cup. He started six of their matches during the regular season; he was the main kicker for the team against the Welwitschias,^[15] the Blue Bulls,^[16] the Falcons^[17] and the Pumas^[18] and kicked 40 points in those matches. He scored a try in the match against the Pumas, as well as against the Leopards^[19] and the Griffons^[20] after Jaco van der Walt took over the kicking duties. The Golden Lions finished the regular season with seven wins out of seven to qualify for the quarter-finals. Davids started their 29–21 victory over the SWD Eagles in the semi-final^[21] and their 20–43 defeat to the Pumas as they got knocked out of the competition.^[22]

In July 2015, Davids joined Potchefstroom-based side Leopards during their 2015 Currie Cup qualification campaign. He started in their matches against the Griffons,^[23] the Boland Cavaliers (which saw him score an early try in a 61–17 victory)^[24] and the Border Bulldogs,^[25] but could not help them overtake Griquas on the log as the latter qualified to the 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division. However, Davids soon appeared in that competition anyway, as he returned to the Golden Lions and appeared as a late replacement in their 31–16 victory over the Sharks in Round Three of the competition.^[26]

References

1. "SA Rugby Player Profile – Ashlon Davids". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
2. "SA Rugby Match Centre – MTN Golden Lions 43–15 Leopards". South African Rugby Union. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
3. "SA Rugby Match Centre – MTN Golden Lions 25–21 Toyota Free State Cheetahs". South African Rugby Union. 11 August 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
4. "SA Rugby Match Centre – MTN Golden Lions 83–3 SWD Eagles". South African Rugby Union. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
5. "SA Rugby Match Centre – DHL Western Province 24–14 MTN Golden Lions". South African Rugby Union. 20 October 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
6. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Valke 27–22 MTN Golden Lions". South African Rugby Union. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
7. "SA Rugby Match Centre – MTN Golden Lions 26–54 Vodacom Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 23 March 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
8. "SA Rugby Match Centre – MTN Golden Lions U21 23–25 Toyota Free State". South African Rugby Union. 27 July 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
9. "SA Rugby Match Centre – DHL Western Province 44–41 MTN Golden Lions U21". South African Rugby Union. 19 October 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
10. "SA Rugby Top Scorers – 2014 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
11. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Golden Lions U21 113–3 Border U21". South African Rugby Union. 16 August 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
12. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Blue Bulls U21 25–31 Golden Lions U21". South African Rugby Union. 6 September 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
13. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Leopards U21 10–48 Golden Lions U21". South African Rugby Union. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
14. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Blue Bulls U21 23–19 Golden Lions U21". South African Rugby Union. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
15. "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB Welwitschias 3–53 Xerox Golden Lions". South African Rugby Union. 6 March 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
16. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Xerox Golden Lions 24–12 Vodacom Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
17. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Hino Valke 26–48 Xerox Golden Lions". South African Rugby Union. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
18. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Steval Pumas 16–24 Xerox Golden Lions". South African Rugby Union. 11 April 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
19. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Xerox Golden Lions 63–10 Leopards XV". South African Rugby Union. 25 April 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
20. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Down Touch Griffons 20–36 Xerox Golden Lions". South African Rugby Union. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
21. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Xerox Golden Lions 29–21 SWD Eagles". South African Rugby Union. 16 May 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
22. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Xerox Golden Lions 20–43 Steval Pumas". South African Rugby Union. 22 May 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
23. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Down Touch Griffons 20–24 Leopards". South African Rugby Union. 11 July 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
24. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Leopards 61–17 Boland". South African Rugby Union. 18 July 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
25. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Border 8–33 Leopards". South African Rugby Union. 25 July 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
26. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Cell C Sharks 16–31 Xerox Golden Lions". South African Rugby Union. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2016.