Jonathan Davies is undergoing a gruelling fitness regime after piecing his battered body back together following two major operations.
The Welsh rugby legend underwent a full knee replacement in September 2024, before going under the knife again for a major back operation, which saw a metal cage and four screws inserted in his back and left him feeling like he’s been “run over by a bus”.
Nevertheless, the 63-year-old has shown little appetite to slow down and will set off this Sunday for his sixth Jiffy’s Cancer 50 Challenge bike ride, along with hundreds of cyclists aiming to raise tens of thousands of pounds for Velindre Cancer Charity a
Davies became president of Velindre Cancer in 2009 and during his time working with the charity has helped raise more than £50million. He was awarded a CBE for his remarkable contribution earlier this year.
Hawkins has been impressed by Jiffy’s performance in training (Image: Craig Hawkins)
Davies is being kept in shape by former Scarlets hooker Craig Hawkins, who played for the Barbarians during his playing career, is working as a fully qualified personal trainer, and has worked with a number of well-known names, including Ceri Sweeney, Rhys Williams, Josh Adams and Gareth Davies.
Carol Vorderman is also among his list of former clients, while current Wales star Jac Morgan has also recently called upon his expertise.
Jiffy recently posted a snap of his most recent sessions on his Instagram page, and has clearly shown little sign of slowing down despite his recent surgeries.
“He’s been brilliant,” Hawkins told WalesOnline.
Hawkins has been regularly training Jiffy since Covid(Image: Craig Hawkins)
“Last year I was advising him on how to manage his body.
“He kind of turned around and told me that he’s going to get major back surgery and his knee done within a range of three months.
“That just sums up the type of bloke he is.
“He’s all in for it.”
“We still work quite hard on weights and functional training,” he added.
“He’s still able to, and because he’s so competitive he kind of enjoys that side of it.
“We’ll have little rowing or assault bike sessions that we do.
“He’s just a competitive athlete, so it’s anything I set him.”
Jac Morgan has also stopped by to work with Hawkins recently(Image: Craig Hawkins)
Hawkins has clearly been impressed by Jiffy’s recent progress, but admits they did have to temper efforts slightly following his time under the knife.
“We did have to tinker it down quite a lot last year post-surgery.
“I think he struggled with that because he’s a bit like myself.
Jiffy and Carol Voderman both train regularly with Craig Hawkins
“[As former rugby players] We’re programmed to go hard and fast.
“But yeah, he did have to slow down quite a bit, although he’s really back and firing as good as he was like when we were training in COVID.
“So yeah, he plays hard and he goes hard.
“He still has a good social life. I sometimes don’t know how he does it.
“If I had a drink at the weekend, I’d probably struggle on the Monday. But he’s there at nine o’clock.
“I turn up, and then we go hard at it every Monday and Wednesday.”