Early success Duckham played his entire club career for his hometown club,
Coventry R.F.C. playing at both centre and wing from 1967 to 1979. He made his international debut for
England against
Ireland in 1969, and quickly established himself as one of England's best centres. Duckham's early career saw him form a notable centre partnership with
John Spencer. His game was marked by pace, swerves, sidesteps and an ability to wrong-foot his opponents, although this came at a time when the English team were struggling, especially against rivals
Wales.
"Dai Duckham" Duckham is perhaps best remembered for his performances for the British and Irish Lions and Barbarians teams under the Welsh coach
Carwyn James. Duckham's six tries in the match against West Coast-Buller set a record for a visiting player in a single match in New Zealand. In 1973, Duckham was reunited with James and many of his teammates from the 1971 Lions tour, when he was named as the only English back in the
Barbarians side to play the
All Blacks at
Cardiff Arms Park. In the match, Duckham's counter-attacks broke the All Black's defence, even wrong-footing a cameraman with one outrageous dummy.
The match is remembered as a classic, with the Barbarians winning 23–11. Duckham's transformation under James, together with his status as the lone Englishman in a backline dominated by Welsh players, would see him became a favourite among both Welsh players and supporters, with many regarding him as one of their own. This earned him the life long nickname
Dai (an affectionate Welsh
hypocorism of David).
Later career Duckham took his attacking form into the
1973 Five Nations Championship, scoring a brace of tries for England in the 14-6 win over
France. Against
Scotland, Duckham made a memorable solo run which England failed to finish, often remembered as "the greatest try never scored at
Twickenham stadium". Despite England's poor results in the
1974 Five Nations Championship, Duckham continued to score some memorable tries for club and country, scoring the opening try in a rare win over
Wales and touching down for
Coventry RFC in the
RFU Knockout Cup final against
London Scottish RFC. Injury would prevent Duckham from taking part in the
1974 British Lions tour to South Africa, but he would continue to feature for England making his final appearance in 1976 against Scotland at
Murrayfield. ==Later years==