Ben Mowen (born 1 December 1984) is an Australian former professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. He was the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the Australia national team and also the

ACT Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

team in

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

. He played at

blindside flanker Flanker is a position in the sport of rugby union. Each team of 15 players includes two flankers, who play in the forwards, and are generally classified as either blindside or openside flankers, numbers 6 and 7 respectively. The name comes fr ...

or number-eight.

Early life

Mowen was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

and educated at Villanova College. He played for the Brisbane Easts club, and captained the Queensland under 19s. At the

2005 Under 21 Rugby World Championship The 2005 Under-21 Rugby World Championship took place in Argentina between 9 June and 25 June 2005. The 2005 championship was the fourth contested. This championship saw South Africa win the final over Australia 24–20. Venues Participant ...

he captained Australia to finish second.

Rugby career

Mowen made his

debut in

2006 Super 14 season The 2006 Super 14 season started on 10 February 2006. The Grand Final was held on 27 May 2006. Super 14 is a provincial rugby union competition with 14 teams from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. This season was the first of the expansion, ...

for the

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union club competition ...

against the Sharks. He made only other six appearances for Reds during the season, all being in non-competition matches, so he moved to the Waratahs in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, joining Randwick in the Shute Shield competition. Late in the

2011 Super Rugby season The 2011 Super Rugby season was the first season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition, which involved teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Including its past iterations as Super 12 and Super 14, this was the 16t ...

Mowen was forced to leave the Waratahs to allow for

Rocky Elsom Rocky Elsom (born 14 February 1983) is a former Australian rugby union player. He played the positions of flanker and number eight. He was selected for 75 caps for Australia. He is the most capped Australian blindside flanker. Elsom was the 7 ...

's return from the Brumbies. In July 2011 Mowen signed a two-year contract to play under

Jake White Jake White (born 13 December 1963 as ''Jacob Westerduin'') is a professional rugby union coach and former coach of the South African national team – the ''Springboks'' – whom he coached to victory in 2007 Rugby World Cup and the 2004 Tri ...

at the Brumbies, being made captain for the 2012 season. In June 2013, former Wallaby,

Stephen Larkham Stephen Larkham (born 29 May 1974) is a retired Australian rugby union professional player, currently in the role of head coach for Brumbies. He spent his career with the Brumbies in Super Rugby, for whom he played from the inception of the pro ...

stated that, after some doubts, Mowen had turned out to be one of the best leaders he has ever encountered. Mowen made his Wallaby debut on 22 June 2013, against the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

in the position of blindside flanker. He maintained his spot in the team for the entire series. On 31 October 2013, he replaced

James Horwill James Horwill (born 29 May 1985) is an Australian former rugby union player, who has played for the Australian national side, with 61 caps to his name. He captained the Wallabies a number of times, including during the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Hor ...

as captain of the Wallabies. Mowen left Australia at the end of the

2014 Super Rugby season The 2014 Super Rugby season is the fourth season of the 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as Asteron Life Super Rugby ...

. He has said of his departure from test rugby: "I am probably the first (Wallabies captain to be in this situation), but I'm also probably the first bloke to make his Test debut at 28 and retire at 29."

Reference list

External links

*
Stats
on It's Rugby * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mowen, Ben Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Australian rugby union captains ACT Brumbies players Living people New South Wales Waratahs players People educated at Villanova College (Australia) Queensland Reds players Rugby union number eights Rugby union players from Brisbane 1984 births Montpellier Hérault Rugby players Section Paloise players Australian expatriate rugby union players Australian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate rugby union players in France