If you want to see how capricious rugby can be, have a look at Shaun Davies.

The USA and Glendale Raptor scrumhalf enjoyed an excellent June, starting in the No. 9 jersey for the Eagles as they ran through wins over Russia, Scotland, and Canada. That last game was against Canadian scrumhalf legend Phil Mack.

But then he goes back to Colorado, suits up for the heavily favored Glendale team in the Major League Rugby final, only to see Mack’s Seattle Seawolves take the title in an upset.

He has to be shaking his head.

“Seattle did a fantastic job — they came in with a really good game plan and kept us out of our game plan,” said the former BYU All-American. “They disrupted the ruck a lot. They didn’t let us get the front-foot ball we would have liked and we couldn’t use our width. They did a really good job. The boys were a little bit upset, but at least when you get beat by the better team on the day; you can give them props for that.”

Beating a team three times in a season is difficult, and certainly those earlier wins by Glendale over Seattle gave the Seawolves something to work on.

“It’s hard to be the better team three times in a row,” added Davies. “Unfortunately that turned out to be true, but overall the MLR season was fantastic — Major League Rugby did what it set out to do — and everyone can be excited for the future.”

Everyone could well excited for the future of the USA men’s national team after going 8-0 so far this year.

Davies had some important roles in those games, and especially against Scotland, where he made a try-saving tackle (assistant by Ben Landry) that helped preserve the victory.

“As I was getting run over I reached around and took a last-ditch effort to knock the ball out,” said the scrumhalf. “It was really humid in Houston so it didn’t take much to know the ball out, and Ben — all props to the big man — he did a lot to knock that ball loose, too.”

Not giving up on a play is what it’s going to take to beat a Tier 1 team, said Davies.

“It was always going to come down to who wants it more and who keeps going and keeps going,” he explained. “We worked so hard and trained so hard because we didn’t want that [tiredness] to be an issue. It was an amazing experience. The crowd, and the support we got, it was an incredible experience. There’s been many an Eagle team that has come close, but really thanks to everyone in the past who helped us get there.

“Now we know that we can do it, now that’s the standard.”

After the win over Scotland, head coach Gary Gold said to the players, “Now do you believe me?” 

“He wants us to have that belief that we have the ability to knock over these bigger nations,” said Davies. “Gary Gold is such a great man, and he’s the right coach for us at this time.”

Davies has been around for a while. He came to the USA from South Africa to attend BYU, and helped the Cougars to a national D1 title as well as a D1A title when the divisions were changed. He has stayed, become an Eagle, and seen — and been a part of — much change in the game. He has played in two pro leagues, two different major college divisions, and been in and out of favor. After getting his first cap in 2012, he earned just one more over the next four years. It wasn’t until 2017 that he became a regular.

During that time, finding domestic success has helped him become a regular Eagle.

“If you look back at it, you used to have a semifinal on the Friday and a final on the Saturday,” he said. “That still happens with the men’s club leagues. But it’s come so far with the MLR. We have a proper professional championship and playing playoff games every week. It hasn’t changed in the last ten years, it’s changed in the last four years. 

“But looking back on those old BYU days it seems like a long time ago. A lot of the older guys [on Glendale] that we took on is to remind the younger guys is that professional rugby hasn’t been in this country all the time. We older guys have been through it all, and we should just be grateful that we’re on this upward spiral.”