Former WARU president Reverend Russell Earls Davis has passed away peacefully in Hollywood Hospital on 29 December 2019 aged 91 years.
As a player, coach and administrator Davis always had a deep passion for rugby after coming to Perth from Sydney, he became the first chaplain at Hale School in 1958.
While coaching the 1st XV, Davis was a main driver behind rugby becoming a strongly established winter sport in the school.
Davis also founded the Anglican Sporting Association (ASA)/St George in the 1960s which ran several teams in the WA senior rugby competition.
He continued to play for the ASA every Saturday sometimes playing twice to fill in for other teams all the way until he was well into his 30s.
Davis became President of the WA Rugby Union (WARU) in the late 1960s, his time as president included the controversial Springboks tour of Australia in 1971 which included a home opener against Western Australia at Perry Lakes stadium.
Davis subsequently was elected a Life Member of the WARU and towards the latter stages of his life enjoyed regularly attending Western Force games.
Davis is survived by his wife Barbara, his six children (one of whom played for the Western Australian state rugby team in the 1970s), 17 grandchildren (one of whom was a WA first grade referee) and six great grandchildren.
RugbyWA send their condolences to the Davis family and thank Reverend Russell for his service to the game.
A memorial service will be held at the Hale School chapel on Tuesday the 28th of January commencing at 10:30am.
