Wales captain Sam Warburton has been warned he may have to settle for second best in his head-to-head with Scarlets flanker James Davies.
The notice has been issued by Davies himself who believes his own form will allow him to put Warburton in the shade when they clash in his region’s Guinness Pro12 derby at home to the Cardiff Blues on Saturday.
“Cubby” – as the younger brother of Wales centre Jonathan ‘Fox’ Davies is known – is looking forward to his scrap with the national skipper.
“People talk about head-to-heads in the media and stuff, but I just look at my own game and if I feel I am playing well, I feel like I am coming out on top,” said Davies.
“I feel I have done okay since coming back from injury. I worked hard, it was such a long lay-off and so hard watching.
“Whoever they play in the back-row I am going to be up for it and if they play three sevens it is going to be a good challenge, like it was last weekend against Sam Underhill.”
The Blues are currently operating with a back row that comprises of three players who all began as opensides in Warburton, Ellis Jenkins and Josh Navidi.
A fourth, former Scarlet Josh Turnbull, has been stationed in the second row, making if four players with the instinct to battle for the ball at the breakdown.
But Davies is not overly concerned and is backing his impressive recent form after returning to action following a stress fracture in his foot.
He also believes the Scarlets are worthy of their top four status, a position they are determined to cement and make the play-offs following their convincing derby victory last week against the Ospreys.
“It is how you bounce back and it has just been nice to be back training with the boys and out on the field again.”
“It is all about ourselves now. If we win every game we are going to put ourselves in a good place.
“People talk about winning derbies and bragging rights and last weekend we did talk about how big a game the derby always is.
“But at the end of the day we are looking at the top four and pushing on for the top two. For us, it was a lot more than a derby and I think that showed in our performance.
“We are at the business end now. Hopefully we can get a big crowd because that makes a difference, and if we can replicate the Ospreys result we put ourselves in a good place.”
