Bath and England star comes out at bisexual

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, Davis explains: "I had hidden it well but I couldn’t keep it secret any longer. I had to tell them, all of them, not just a few. I didn’t want it to turn into Chinese whispers.

"So, on the spur of the moment, I put it on our WhatsApp group."

He then had a rush of relief as the supportive messages from his team mates quickly buzzed into his inbox.

'This changes nothing.'

'Mate, we support you.’

‘You’re really brave.’

‘Fair play to you.’

He added: ‘Thankfully we can now discuss mental health more openly. And in the same way, I want people to feel that they can be who they are and that it is OK to be who they are.

‘Hiding who you are can kill you – and has killed people.

‘I don’t know yet where I am going, but by talking today I can walk hand-in-hand with whoever I want and it won’t matter any more because it’s out there.

‘I realise, though, that I am a bit niche and difficult to categorise: a black, bisexual, privately educated rugby professional. Even black people who hear me on the phone sometimes say, “You don’t sound black, you sound white.”

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Here, we round up the rugby players who've bravely came out to inspire a whole new generation of LGBTQ youth.

He is one of the greatest rugby players in the history of the UK, captaining the Welsh international side as well as the British and Irish Lions during his career.

Thomas publicly came out in 2009 and has since described his experience as a secretly gay player, revealing how the social pressure and stereotypes pose a significant challenge for many athletes today.

"It was one of my regrets I didn't come out while I was a rugby player."

Former Harlequins second row Simon Miall on rugby, marriage and why he flew from New York to support this weekend's Pride match.

Stanley became the first openly gay Rugby Union and Sevens player in the UK. The former Saracens full-back also played with England in the World Rugby Sevens Series from 2013 to 2015 but has been sidelined from the sport due to a recurring injury.

While most of the athletes on this list have earned a name on the pitch, Louisa Wall has become a prominent politician in New Zealand after completing a successful rugby career. The former Black Fern and Silver Fern was the driving force behind the legalization of same-sex marriage in New Zealand, claiming that the passing of the bill felt like winning the Rugby World Cup.

Although he never played rugby at a professional level, Mark Bingham has become an iconic figure for gay rugby players and sportspeople around the world. Known for his heroics during the September 11 attacks, Bingham was a robust second-row man who played for the gay-inclusive San Francisco Fog RFC.

The Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament, simply known as the Bingham Cup, is a biennial gay rugby union tournament which was held for the first time in 2002. Named after the former rugby player, the Bingham Cup has become a symbolic event that has been hosted in multiple cities around the globe.