Davies: Pumped up for Fiji test

But like every Welsh rugby fan, he still felt the pain of defeat on a numbing weekend in Nantes as Wales made a pool stage exit and coach Gareth Jenkins lost his job.

On Sunday, though, Davies is likely to be among those players entrusted with the job of completing a successful revenge mission and confirming Wales' quarter-final place.

''I probably watched in a pub in Llantrisant somewhere,'' lock Davies said, recalling events at Stade de la Beaujoire. ''I felt it - everyone did.

''Even though I am a player and I am involved, deep down at heart I am still a Welsh fan. I'm a Welsh boy who supports Wales whether I am playing or not.

''I was gutted four years ago, but it's rugby for you. We weren't good enough on the day and we came unstuck.''

Davies has bow collected 26 caps, although his tournament so far has been restricted to one start - against Namibia last night - after Luke Charteris and Alun-Wyn Jones were preferred in the Pool D appointments with South Africa and Samoa.

''It's swings and roundabouts,'' Davies added. ''One day you are in the team and playing on top of your game - the next, you are on the sidelines.

''But we are trying to develop world-class locks, so competition is part of the deal. It's good for Wales. Maybe in the past we haven't been blessed with that so much.

''Not being picked for the South Africa game was a blow because I thought I had been playing well for Wales, but if someone is picked ahead of you just have to deal with it.

''If I am not picked, I am not picked. I don't make an issue of it. The other guy is better than me in the eyes of the selectors.

''I just try to train hard and make an impact off the bench if I get that opportunity.''

Wales held their own against South Africa and Samoa, losing by a point to the Springboks and defeating the South Sea Islanders, which confirmed them as genuine quarter-final contenders and possibly beyond.

''In the past, we have been happy to perform well against the big sides. But once you start performing well, you want to get results,'' Davies said.

''Too many times we've been in a situation where people were saying 'Wales performed well, but they lost again'.

''That is what the summer was about, trying to make sure we are able to perform for the full 80 minutes. We're clinical, powerful and we look fit.

''Fiji beat us in the last World Cup, but that was four years ago. We had a different squad and a different coach - what happened then isn't really an issue now.

''We know Fiji will be a massive threat.

''A Rugby World Cup is a massive thing in a player's career, and you want something to remember it for.

''The last World Cup wasn't great for Wales, but now we want to have fond memories and leave a legacy.''