Michael Owen. Michael Owen
good attitude is the only path to take. There are obstacles along the way, but I think you are of the calibre to overcome them.
When I reported back to Sardis Road for the start of the 2000/01 season I was determined to turn around the negatives of how I felt I had been viewed on that tour and was determined to play better than ever. For a second season in a row, some of Pontypridd’s senior players had left, including the club’s only current internationals, Geraint Lewis, who went to Swansea, and Ian Gough, who returned to Newport.
We had a chance to win our first Heineken Cup game away from Sardis Road when we went to Pau. One of our supporters even had a banner that read ‘Welcome to the House of Pain’, but we blew it, losing the match 12–9, when we should have won. The French team were putting in high tackles, but I had a good game against a young Imanol Harinordaquay. Al Charron, the Canadian international who played for Pau, was very complimentary about me. So was Graham Henry, but he still wasn’t sure if I should be in the back row or second row. Richie Collins played me at number eight at Pontypridd, but Henry still seemed to think I should be a lock.
We lost the return against Pau, beat Glasgow and had a brilliant 18–11 win over Leicester at Sardis Road, but we still crashed out of the Heineken Cup after losing all our away games. In the return at Welford Road – which was a week before my twentieth birthday- Ponty pushed Leicester all the way, losing 27–19. After the match, Richie Collins told the press that I would play for Wales inside the next three years. Dennis John then weighed into the argument over where I should play, asking people just to ‘let me play’. A decision, he said, on where my best position was, was still a year away. The newspapers were full of the difference of opinion between Collins and Henry over my position, but all I could do was to keep my head down and do my best – in whatever position I was selected.
I was then included alongside my Ponty team-mates Robert Sidoli, Brett Davey and Sonny Parker, who had decided to qualify on residency and play for Wales in a Welsh development squad for a game against the United States at Neath. Brett Davey had a great game at The Gnoll, scoring twenty-one points and I managed to score a try just before half time. Brett was an amazing player, a real showman. I would have loved to have seen him play for Wales despite his lack of pace and physicality, as I know he would have relished playing on the big stage. He was written off because of his lack of pace, instead of being selected because of what he could do.
Craig Quinnell was our captain that day, Gavin Henson also started and we won 46–20. After the game, our coach Leigh Jones told the Western Mail: ‘I was very impressed with Sidoli, Lloyd and Owen. I think those three could be looking at A or senior representation this season.’
Everything seemed to be happening at breakneck speed, so quickly that I couldn’t always take it in. I had to make sure I wasn’t distracted by all this discussion over when – or if – I would make the senior team and in what position I should play. After the USA game, Leigh Jones and Geraint John wrote a very encouraging report, which said I had ‘grown considerably in stature (mentally) since the development tour’. The report signed off with: ‘Good team man, keep up the hard work Mike. I’m sure you’ll get what you desire.’ I hoped they were right.
When the Under-21 Six Nations started, the newspapers were very interested in Gavin Henson, who had not played consistently so far, but Swansea’s fly half Arwel Thomas had just been ruled out for the rest of the season so he had his chance. Gavin was very talented, very quiet and a good player who could do exceptional things. We played England at Sardis Road in the first Six Nations game and Gavin was preferred ahead of Ceri – a decision that was imposed on the Wales Under-21 staff by the senior management – and partnered Ryan Powell at half-back.
Wales had beaten England in the previous two Under-21 fixtures. I had missed the previous win, but now I would start. So would Gethin, who had a good match and this season really saw him start to emerge as a top player. I scored a try, fly-kicking a loose ball 30 metres down into the corner before I touched down. The crowd all started singing, ‘Olé! Olé! Olé! Olé! Ponty! Ponty!’ It was awesome! Wales did it again, winning 27–12. Gavin scored seventeen points and Swansea’s Matthew Brayley was Man of the Match.
We beat Scotland in our next game, 31–18, with Gavin scoring a try, three penalties, two conversions and a drop-goal. Beddau’s Geraint Liddon also got capped in this match, coming on for Gethin.
Playing for the Under-21s was great fun. Ceri, Gethin, Geraint Liddon, Damian Adams and I used to travel down together to Llanelli and Swansea, where we used to train, together. We all shared the driving and when it was my turn I would drive my club car, which may sound really flash, but it was a Blue Vauxhall Corsa, which I struggled to fit into! Ceri used to come to my house so he would sit in the front for the hour or so journey with three big forwards in the back. It used to drive Gethin mad and they nearly came to blows over it, which was hysterical to watch. They’ve clashed regularly throughout their careers, during and after matches, even in card games! And although they just seem to rub each other up the wrong way, they remain good friends.
In the Welsh/Scottish League, Pontypridd were doing OK and I was playing regularly, but we looked likely to miss out on Heineken Cup rugby for the first time in seven years. I had two years left on my contract, but Newport were interested in buying me out of it, reportedly as a replacement for their South African number eight, Gary Teichmann, who was due to retire at the end of that season.
The newspapers claimed that Newport’s owner Tony Brown wanted to sign Nathan Budgett from Ebbw Vale, but that he had wanted too much in wages and that I was a cheaper option. Richie Collins was adamant that I wasn’t leaving Ponty and, for all Newport’s money, I was happy to stay – things were going well for me and I loved every minute of it. I was playing well and really pleased when I won the club’s Supporter’s Player of the Year trophy after being named Man of the Match in six games by the supporters, who were brilliant to me. I was Player of the Year, even though I had only played a career total of forty-seven first XV games. I even had a local schoolboy from Beddau write to me. He played for Beddau and was doing a project on famous people and had to get a signed photo for it – and he chose me.
When Pontypridd lost 22–21 to Neath at Sardis Road – after a last-second drop-goal from the South African Greg Miller – it meant we would definitely miss out on the Heineken Cup and instead had to settle for the second-tier European Challenge Cup, then known as the Parker Pen. At the end of the season, Will James went back to England’s West Country and joined Plymouth Albion. Lee Jarvis went too, joining Neath. Lee had missed a kick in a crucial game against Bridgend and some of the supporters were giving him a hard time, claiming he had missed on purpose so that Neath could qualify for the Heineken Cup, but that was nonsense.
My season finished with a Welsh development tour of Japan, which left at the end of May. I had never visited Japan and thought this was a really exciting place to go. My parents came over to watch me play. The Lions were also touring in Australia and our squad contained the best players left in Wales. It was led by the Cardiff coach Lyn Howells. We all got a real surprise in the first match, when Suntory, the strongest Japanese club side, beat us 45–41. The next game was against a Japanese Select XV and I got on for about six minutes. I was gutted! I was given no chance to stake a claim for the main team, even though Howells had said that everyone would get a chance to show what they could do before selecting the test team.
Wales won the first test against Japan, with one of my peers, Andrew Lloyd, who was capped at Under-16 level alongside me, playing at six, scoring a try and winning rave reviews. I felt as though one of my rivals had got ahead of me. Although Andy’s a lovely fella, I was gutted and really envious. The tour didn’t get any better for me when I was selected against a Pacific Barbarians team that had players like the All Blacks’ Graeme Bachop, Walter Little and Aaron Pene playing. The Welsh team selected had just a dozen caps! We lost 36–16. It was really tough in the heat, humidity and rain and I got pulled off after sixty minutes and felt that I had let myself down.
I really hated that tour. It was a thirty-eight-man squad, far too big for the trip, and at times I felt like Craig Quinnell’s stunt double. Craig couldn’t train, but played in all the games. I was the reverse. I could train, but never got a chance to play. It was very