Born in New Zealand, Greg Davis played for Katikati in the
Thames Valley, for Otahuhu in
Auckland and for Tauranga in the
Bay of Plenty. He trialled for the
All Blacks in 1961 and moved to Australia in 1963 and there joined the
Drummoyne Rugby Club Davis was immediately selected for both
New South Wales and
Australia in his first year in Sydney. He debuted in a Sydney Test match against
England in June 1963 and the following month was selected in the squad for the
1963 Australia rugby union tour of South Africa. He played in all four Test matches of the tied series and in ten other tour matches. The next year he made the
1964 Australia rugby union tour of New Zealand playing in seven of the eight matches including all three Tests. He represented in Sydney in 1965 in a Test against the
Springboks and in 1966 in two Tests
British & Irish Lions. The next year he made the
1966–67 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France and played in twenty of the thirty-six matches including all five Tests. In 1967 he was in the Wallaby side that travelled to New Zealand for the 75th Jubilee Test and in 1968 he made the short tour of Ireland and Scotland. Davis was first honoured with the Australian captaincy in a home match against Wales in 1969 and a few weeks later he led the Wallabies on the
1969 Australia rugby union tour of South Africa where he played in four Tests and a further seventeen tour matches. The squad was selected with an eye to youth and some experienced campaigners were left at home – all four Test matches were lost. Davis continued as national captain for the next three years in Tests at home against Scotland, South Africa and France and also led the Wallabies on the
1971 Australia rugby union tour of France and the
1972 Australia rugby union tour of New Zealand and Fiji. He played in eleven of thirteen matches in this, his final rugby tour, and at its end, he retired from rugby. Howell writes that for Davis, at 33 years and the end of a magnificent career, the seven loss and five win result of the tour was "a disaster and occasioned Davis' retirement". An injury picked up in New Zealand prevented Davis from leading the side in the Test match in Fiji on the way home.
Peter Sullivan led the Wallabies to a 21–19 victory against Fiji. He had already captained Australia in two mide-week games during the New Zealand leg. The third Test in New Zealand, a 38–3 romp by the
All Blacks was Greg Davis' final match. All told he made 102 match appearances for Australia; 39 were Test matches. He captained his country in 16 Tests and in 31 other matches. ==Captaincy and style==