Scott Cowan (born 4 June 1983 in

Gore, New Zealand Gore ( mi, Maruawai) is a town and Gore District, New Zealand, district in the Southland Region, Southland region of the South Island of New Zealand. Geography The town of Gore is located on State Highway 1 (New Zealand), State Highway 1 64&nbs ...

) is a New Zealand

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 who plays as a halfback for the

Southland Stags Rugby Southland (formerly the Southland Rugby Football Union) is the provincial rugby union who govern the Southland region of New Zealand. Their headquarters are at Rugby Park Stadium in Invercargill, which is also the home ground of the unio ...

. He is the younger brother of

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

halfback,

Jimmy Cowan Quinton James Cowan (born 6 March 1982) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer. He first played for the All Blacks – New Zealand's national team – during the 2004 tour to the United Kingdom and France, and played his last Test match for t ...

Playing career

Provincial Rugby

With older brother Jimmy on

duty, Scott emerged as the starting halfback for Southland in the

2009 Air New Zealand Cup The 2009 Air New Zealand Cup was the 33rd provincial rugby union competition, the fourth since the competition reconstruction in 2006, involving the top 14 provincial unions in New Zealand. It ran for 15 weeks from 30 July to 7 November. It was ...

, and led the Stags to a monumental

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challeng ...

victory over

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

. In the

2010 ITM Cup The 2010 ITM Cup season was the fifth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on July 29, when Taranaki hosted Northland. It involved the top fourteen rugby unio ...

, Cowan was again the starting halfback as Southland defended the Ranfurly Shield for the bulk of the season. However, Jimmy Cowan returned from the All Blacks camp to start the game in which Canterbury re-gained the Shield from Southland.

Super Rugby

Cowan was included in the Highlanders wider training group for the

2009 Super 14 season The 2009 Super 14 season kicked off in February 2009 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 30 May, when the Bulls won their second Super Rugby title with a decisive 61–17 victory over the Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld sta ...

to serve as the 3rd-string halfback behind his brother Jimmy and Sean Romans. However, he was called into the full squad for weeks 2 and 3 of the season due to an injury to his brother, and made his Super Rugby debut against the Waratahs on 27 February 2009, coming on as a substitute for Romans. For the

2010 Super 14 season The 2010 Super 14 season kicked off in February 2010 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 29 May. The 2010 season was the fifth and last season of the expanded Super 14 format. The schedule, which covers 3½ months, fea ...

, Cowan was again included in the Highlanders' wider training group. He was able to earn another 2 substitute appearances for the club, and was included in the 22-man squad for the final 4 games of the season after Romans was ruled out through injury. In the final game of the season against the Queensland Reds, he came on as a substitute for his brother Jimmy. With the expansion of rosters from 28 to 32 players for the

2011 Super 15 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 ...

, Cowan was thought to have a strong chance of earning a full roster spot with the Highlanders, but was passed over in favour of Romans and Aaron Smith, who will serve as the backups to Jimmy Cowan.

References

Southland Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Scott 1983 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves Southland rugby union players Highlanders (rugby union) players People from Gore, New Zealand New Zealand expatriate rugby union players People educated at Otago Boys' High School New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate rugby union players in Russia Expatriate rugby union players in Italy Rugby Viadana players Rugby union players from Southland, New Zealand