Ben Flower (born 19 October 1987) is a Welsh professional former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who last played as a for the

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League. The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern R ...

in the

Betfred Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

, and has played for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

at international level. He previously played as a and for

Crusaders Rugby League Crusaders Rugby League ( cy, Croesgadwyr Rygbi'r Gynghrair) was a professional rugby league club based in Bridgend and later in Wrexham, Wales. They played for six seasons in the Rugby Football League competitions, including three years in the ...

in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

, and spent time away from

Crusaders RL Crusaders Rugby League ( cy, Croesgadwyr Rygbi'r Gynghrair) was a professional rugby league club based in Bridgend and later in Wrexham, Wales. They played for six seasons in the Rugby Football League competitions, including three years in the ...

on loan at the

South Wales Scorpions The South Wales Scorpions, known as the South Wales Ironmen in 2017, were a semi-professional rugby league club based in South Wales. They played in the third tier of the British rugby league system (currently known as RFL League 1, League 1) be ...

in Championship 1. Flower also spent 9 seasons at the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

in the top flight. He punched

Lance Hohaia Lance Koro Hohaia (born 1 April 1983), also known by the nickname of "The Huntly Hurricane", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer. A New Zealand international representative utility back, he played in the NRL for the Ne ...

in the face twice in the second minute of the Super League Grand Final in 2014 and faced a six-month ban.

Background

Flower was born in

Cardiff, Wales Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Playing career

Early career and Crusaders

An under-17 international when at

Cardiff Demons The Cardiff Demons RLFC name has been used multiple times over the years. Firstly for a now-defunct men's rugby league side, and subsequently for a women's rugby league side who began in 2021. The men's sids played out of St. Peters RFC in the ...

, Flower also played for Wales in

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 ...

at under 18, under 19 and under 20 level. He was signed by the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

from Welsh Premiership rugby union side

Bedwas RFC Bedwas RFC ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Bedwas) is a rugby union club located in the Welsh village of Bedwas. Bedwas has two senior teams, their 1st XV competing in the Welsh Championship and their development side, the Bedwas Barbarians. The club is a member ...

, having also played for regional side

Newport Gwent Dragons Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in ...

Flower progressed as a professional

footballer throughout 2007, starting in Crusaders Colts before becoming a regular in the Crusaders first team and winning his first full Welsh cap in 2008. He played for Crusaders in their first

season in 2009, and remained with the club until their departure from the league in 2011, after which he signed for

. In 2010, Flower was loaned from Crusaders to

of Championship 1, and made four appearances for the club, scoring one try.

Wigan Warriors

2012

Flower made 18 appearances in his first season with Wigan.

2013

In 2013 he established himself as a first-choice player and was a member of the team that won the

2013 Challenge Cup Final The 2013 Challenge Cup Final was the 112th cup-deciding game of the rugby league 2013 Challenge Cup Season. It was held at Wembley Stadium in London on 24 August 2013, kick off 15:00. The final was contested by Hull F.C. and Wigan Warriors. The ...

with victory over

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. He played in the

2013 Super League Grand Final The 2013 Super League Grand Final was the 16th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of Super League XVIII. The game was held on Saturday 5 October 2013, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by Wigan Warrio ...

victory over the

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warrington Z ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

Lance Hohaia incident

On 11 October 2014 Flower became the first player to be sent off in a

Super League Grand Final The Super League Grand Final is the championship-deciding game of rugby league's Super League competition. It is played between two teams who have qualified via the Super League Play-Off series. The winning team receives the Super League Trop ...

after being shown a red card in the second minute of the match for twice punching

of St Helens in the face, including once while Hohaia was lying on the ground. Wigan went on to lose the match after playing with a man down for 78 minutes. Flower was subsequently given a six-month ban by the RFL disciplinary committee, the longest in the competition's history for an on-field act. Hohaia retired from rugby league on 29 April 2015, citing recurrent concussion symptoms as the reason.

2015

Flower made his comeback against Warrington Wolves on 16 April. He was wished well ahead of his return by Lance Hohaia. He went on to make 19 appearances scoring four tries. He played in the

2015 Super League Grand Final The 2015 Super League Grand Final was the 18th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XX season. It was held on Saturday 10 October 2015, at Old Trafford, Manchester, with a 6pm kick-off time. The ...

defeat by the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

2016

In early February he signed a new four-year deal running till the end of 2020 despite interest from other Super League and NRL clubs. His 27 appearances across the season saw him score three tries. He played in the

2016 Super League Grand Final The 2016 Super League Grand Final was the 19th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XXI season. It was held on Saturday 8 October 2016, at Old Trafford, Manchester, with a 6pm kick-off time. Brit ...

victory over the

2017

Flower helped Wigan win a fourth World Club Challenge in the 22-6 victory over Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. He made a good start to the season before after 13 appearances he suffered an

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

injury ending his season.

2018

He played in the

2018 Super League Grand Final The 2018 Super League Grand Final was the 21st official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXIII. It was held at Old Trafford in Manchester on 13 October 2018, kick off 18.00. The final was contested by Warrington Wolves a ...

victory over the

2019

Flower played 18 games for Wigan in 2019 including their shock semi-final loss against Salford.

2020

Flower played only nine games for Wigan in the 2020 season. In the semi-final victory over Hull F.C., Flower was taken from the field in the second half with a leg injury. He was later ruled out of the

2020 Super League Grand Final The 2020 Super League Grand Final was the 23rd official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXV. The game was won 8–4 by St Helens R.F.C., St Helens over their local rivals Wigan Warriors. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in ...

. It was announced on 30 November 2020 that Flower would join

for the 2021 season

2021

Flower retired from

and signed for Welsh

club

Pontypool RFC Pontypool Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in the town of Pontypool, which plays in the WRU Championship (known as the SWALEC Championship for sponsorship purposes). Due to the regionalisation of Welsh rugby in 2003, Pontypo ...

in the Welsh Championship 2021.

International career

Flower made his

début against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

while at Celtic Crusaders in 2008. He represented Wales in the

2010 European Cup The 2010 European Cup, known as the Alitalia European Cup for sponsorship purposes, is a rugby league football tournament. Three of the competing teams participated in the 2009 European Cup, with France also being included in the tournament after ...

, and the

2011 Rugby League Four Nations The 2011 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (also known as the 2011 Gillette Rugby League Four Nations due to sponsorship by Gillette) was the third staging of the Rugby League Four Nations tournament and was played in England and Wales during O ...

, and was named in the squad for the

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and took place in England, Wales, France and Ireland. between 26 October and 30 November 2013. It was the main event of the year's 2013 Festival of World ...

Background

Playing career

Early career and Crusaders

Wigan Warriors

2012

2013

Lance Hohaia incident

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

International career

References

External links