Michael Owen (rugby player)

Michael Owen
Rugby union career

Owen takes a line-out
Full name	Michael Owen
Date of birth	(1980-11-07) 7 November 1980
Place of birth	Pontypridd, Wales
Height	1.97 m (6 ft 5 ¹⁄₂ in)
Weight	109 kilograms (17.2 st)
School	Bryn Celynnog
University	University of Glamorgan (now the University of South Wales)
Current status
Position(s)	No.8 / Flanker
Playing career
Position	No.8 / Flanker
Professional / senior clubs
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1999–2003 2003–2008 2008–2010	Pontypridd Dragons Saracens	103 98 23	(?) (45) (5)
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2002–2010 2005	Wales British and Irish Lions	41	(10)

Michael Owen (born 7 November 1980 in Pontypridd), is a former Welsh international rugby union player, who most often played Number 8, but was also versatile enough to play flanker or even lock. His ball handling was arguably his greatest asset.

Club career

Having been educated at Bryn Celynnog Comprehensive school in Beddau, Owen played for Pontypridd RFC from 1999 until in 2003 the side merged with Bridgend RFC to form the ill fated Celtic Warriors and then played for the Newport Gwent Dragons in the Magners League from 2003 until 2008.

Owen joined Guinness Premiership side Saracens for the 2008/2009 season after signing a two-year deal with the club.^[1]^[2]

International career

Owen became the 1,000th player capped by Wales when he made his debut in the first Test against South Africa in June 2002.

He took over from the injured Gareth Thomas as Wales captain during the 2005 Six Nations, and became the 122nd Captain of his country when he led Wales out against Scotland and led Wales to its first Grand Slam in 27 years.

Owen was selected for the British and Irish Lions for their 2005 New Zealand tour. On 23 May in Cardiff, he had the honour of captaining the side for their match at Millennium Stadium against Argentina, the first Lions Test match to take place outside of the touring country. He temporarily returned home for the birth of his second child.

Post professional rugby career

In July 2010, Owen announced his retirement from the game at 29 due to a persistent knee problem and embarked on a two-year Masters degree course in Business at the University of Hertfordshire.^[3]

In March 2010 he began coaching at Hertford RFC, helping them to gain National 2 league status for the 2011/12 season.

Owen was a co-commentator for ITV's coverage of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

From September 2013 Owen took up the position of Director of Rugby at Haileybury College.^[4]

References

↑ "Owen quits Dragons for Saracens". BBC. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2008.
↑ "Michael Owen to make Vicarage Road switch". Saracens. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2008.
↑ "Injury forces Owen to quit rugby.". BBC News. 2 July 2010.
↑ Grand Slam star Owen to- teach Haileybury's new-breed Hertfordshire Mercury 28 February 2013 accessed 24 March 2014

External links

Wales squad – 2007 Rugby World Cup

Forwards	Bennett Charvis Evans Gough Horsman W. James Ge. Jenkins A. Jones A. W. Jones D. Jones Owen Popham Rees J. Thomas R. Thomas M. Williams

Backs	Cooper Hook D. James M. Jones S. Jones Morgan Parker Peel Phillips Robinson Shanklin Sweeney G. Thomas (c) S. Williams

Coach: Gareth Jenkins

British and Irish Lions – 2005 New Zealand tour

Forwards	Back Bulloch Byrne Cockbain Corry Dallaglio Easterby Grewcock Hayes Hill Jenkins R. Jones Kay Moody O'Callaghan O'Connell O'Kelly Owen Rowntree Shaw Sheridan Stevens Taylor Thompson Titterrell Ja. White Ju. White M. Williams

Backs	Cooper Cueto Cusiter D'Arcy Dawson Greenwood Henson Hickie Hodgson S. Jones Horgan Lewsey Murphy O'Driscoll (c) O'Gara Peel Robinson Shanklin Smith Thomas Wilkinson S. Williams

Coach	Woodward

British and Irish Lions team captains

To 1910	Apr-Aug 1888: Robert Seddon ^{Note 1} Aug-Oct 1888: Andrew Stoddart ^{Note 1} 1891: Bill Maclagan 1896: Johnny Hammond Jun 1899: Matthew Mullineux ^{Note 2} Jun-Aug 1899: Frank Stout ^{Note 2} 1903: Mark Morrison Jun-Jul 1904: David Bedell-Sivright^{Note 3} Jul-Aug 1904: Teddy Morgan^{Note 3} 1908: Boxer Harding 1910: John Raphael^{Note 4}

To present	Jun-Jul1910: Tommy Smyth^{Note 5} Aug 1910: Jack Jones^{Note 5} Aug-Sep1910: Tommy Smyth^{Note 5} 1924: Ronald Cove-Smith 1927: David MacMyn 1930: Doug Prentice 1936: Bernard Gadney 1938: Sam Walker 1950: Karl Mullen 1955: Robin Thompson 1959: Ronnie Dawson 1962: Arthur Smith 1966: Mike Campbell-Lamerton 1968: Tom Kiernan 1971: John Dawes 1974: Willie John McBride 1977: Phil Bennett 1980: Bill Beaumont 1983: Ciaran Fitzgerald 1986: Colin Deans 1989: Finlay Calder 1989: Rob Andrew 1993: Gavin Hastings 1997: Martin Johnson 2001: Martin Johnson May-Jun 2005: Brian O'Driscoll^{Note 6} May 2005: Michael Owen^{Note 6} Jun 2005: Martin Corry^{Note 6} Jul 2005: Gareth Thomas^{Note 6} 2009: Paul O'Connell 2013: Sam Warburton

Notes	Note 1: Robert Seddon died on tour after a boating accident, Andrew Stoddart, became captain for the remainder of the tour. Note 2: Matthew Mullineux decided that after losing the first test that he should withdraw from further test matches, handing on field captaincy to Frank Stout, but remained tour captain. Note 3: David Bedell-Sivright was injured during the first test. Teddy Morgan took over captaincy on the field but Bedell-Sivright remained tour captain. Note 4: The team that John Raphael captained was not selected by the four Home Nations governing body, but had been organised by Oxford University and billed as the English Rugby Union team. However, it was denoted as the Combined British team by its Argentine hosts because it also included three Scots. Note 5: Jack Jones captained the first test only, but Tommy Smyth remained the tour captain. Note 6: Michael Owen captained the Lions in the first tour game, the test vs. Argentina in Cardiff. Brian O'Driscoll was injured at the beginning of the first test. Martin Corry and Gareth Thomas took over captaincy on the field but O'Driscoll remained tour captain.

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 232269752

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