Gareth Bowen (born 20 June 1979) is a Welsh former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer who played as a

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

. Born in

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; ) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and River Cynon, Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tydf ...

, he played for

Bridgend Bridgend (; or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge over the River Og ...

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby c ...

Neath Neath (; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,2 ...

Aurillac Aurillac (; ) is the prefecture of the Cantal department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. Geography Aurillac is at above sea level and located at the foot of the Cantal mountains in a small sedimentary basin. The city is b ...

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a ...

and

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay * Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...

Career

After spending time with

and in England with

and

, Wales under-21 international Bowen joined Llanelli for the inaugural season of the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organization, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places pa ...

in 2001 and shared duties at fly-half with Stephen Jones. His performances earned him a call-up to both the Wales Sevens and Wales 'A' teams in October 2001, although in February 2002, he had to fly home from Sevens duty in New Zealand to cover for Jones who had been ordered to miss a game against

to guard him against injury ahead of the

2002 Six Nations The 2002 Six Nations Championship was the third series of rugby union's Six Nations Championship, the 108th international championship overall. The annual tournament was won by France, who completed a grand slam. Participants Squads Table ...

. In 2003, regional rugby came to Wales and Bowen and Jones were named as the two fly-halves for the Llanelli-based region, the

Llanelli Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby com ...

; however, the start of the 2003–04 season coincided with the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

in Australia, which meant Jones was unavailable and Bowen started at fly-half for the first 10 games in the history of the Scarlets. Jones returned from the World Cup as first-choice, but the

2004 Six Nations Championship The 2004 Six Nations Championship was the fifth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship to be held since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy national rugby union team, Italy. Overall, this was the 110th series of the inter ...

meant Bowen had another run in the team before the end of the season and he signed a new contract with the Scarlets in April 2004. Jones left for French side Clermont in the summer of 2004, and failed moves for New Zealander

Andrew Mehrtens Andrew Philip Mehrtens (born 28 April 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He was regarded as a top first five-eighth, having played first for Canterbury in 1993, before being selected for the All Blacks (New Zealand's national ...

and France's

Gérald Merceron Gérald Merceron (born 25 February 1973) is a French former rugby union player He played at Fly-half (rugby union), fly-half. Unusually he favoured a cone when kicking at goal; the only other player in the modern game to do the same is Chris Elli ...

meant Bowen was now considered the Scarlets' first-choice fly-half, although the newly signed

Arwel Thomas Arwel Camber Thomas (born 8 November 1974) is a Welsh former professional rugby union player who played as a fly-half. Born in Trebanos in the Swansea Valley, he played international rugby for Wales, earning 23 caps between 1996 and 2000. He pla ...

and the young

Ceiron Thomas Ceiron Thomas (born 23 October 1983) is a Welsh former rugby union footballer who played for the Scarlets, Leeds Carnegie, Cornish Pirates, and St Ives RFC. His regular position was at fly-half, though he often played at fullback. Thomas began ...

challenged him for the starting position at various points in the 2004–05 season. In 2005–06, the Scarlets signed

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

international

Mike Hercus Mike Hercus (born June 5, 1979) is an American former professional rugby union player who played at fly-half for the United States national team and several top-level professional clubs around the globe. Hercus is the USA Eagles' all-time leadin ...

as competition for Bowen, limiting Bowen to just 10 starts during the season, although in October 2005, he was included as part of Wales' training squad for the 2005 Autumn internationals. The return of Stephen Jones to the Scarlets and the emergence of Ceiron Thomas saw Bowen omitted from the Scarlets' 38-man squad for the

2006–07 Heineken Cup The 2006–07 Heineken Cup was the 12th edition of the European Heineken Cup rugby union club tournament. The pool draw took place on 21 June at Twickenham. The pool stages started on 20 October and concluded in January, going for six rounds. Foll ...

; his only appearance for the region in 2006–07 came as a replacement in a pre-season friendly against

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

in August 2006, and he was limited to eight competitive appearances for Llanelli RFC before his contract was terminated in November 2006. Despite interest from

Leeds Tykes Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 2 North. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 when ...

, he was almost immediately signed by Neath, who were seeking a replacement at fly-half for James Hook, who had been promoted to the

Ospreys The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It is ...

regional side. Bowen left Wales for France in the summer of 2007, signing for second-division side

but returned to sign for his first club, Bridgend, in July 2008. A year later, he moved to Ebbw Vale before joining

in 2010, where he spent two years before retiring.

Personal life

He is the father of Welsh rugby union player Tom Bowen.

References

External links

Pre-regional era Llanelli RFC and Scarlets statsRegional era Llanelli RFC statsNewport RFC stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowen, Gareth 1979 births Living people Rugby union players from Aberdare Welsh rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves Bridgend RFC players Bedford Blues players Bristol Bears players Llanelli RFC players Scarlets players 21st-century Welsh sportsmen Neath RFC players Ebbw Vale RFC players Newport RFC players