Ronald "Ron"/"Ronnie" C. Cowan (born 26 November 1941) is a Scottish 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 ...

, and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for the British Lions, and , and at club level for

Selkirk RFC Selkirk Rugby Football Club are a rugby union side based in Selkirk in the Borders, Scotland. They play in their home games at Philiphaugh, and compete in the Scottish Premiership (the highest tier of club rugby) and the Border League (the o ...

, as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

,Bath, p118Bath, p88 and representative level rugby league (RL) for Other Nationalities, and at club level for

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

and

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the t ...

, as a , or .

Background

Cowan was born in Selkirk, Scotland.

Rugby union career

Cowan was capped five times for in 1961–62. He also played for

. He went on the

1962 British Lions tour to South Africa In 1962 the British Lions rugby union team toured Southern and Eastern Africa. Overall the tourists played twenty-five matches, winning sixteen, losing five and drawing four. The Lions were unsuccessful in the test series against , losing by ...

Rugby league career

Cowan transferred to

during the 1962–63 season, and scored 119- tries during his rugby league career. Cowan played on the in

' 2–18 defeat by

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

in the 1964–65 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1964–65 season at

Fartown Ground The Fartown Ground or just simply Fartown is a sports ground located in the Huddersfield suburb of Fartown, Huddersfield, Fartown in West Yorkshire, England and is predominantly famous for being the home ground of Huddersfield Giants, Huddersfi ...

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

on Saturday 31 October 1964, and played at in the 23–7 victory over

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...

in the 1970–71 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1970–71 season at

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium (known as Bartercard Odsal Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a multi-purpose stadium, multipurpose stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium is currently the home of Bradford Bulls rugby league football club and ...

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

on Saturday 21 November 1970. Cowan played at in

' 9–5 victory over St. Helens in the 1970 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1970–71 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

on Tuesday 15 December 1970. Cowan played at (replaced by substitute Les Dyl) in

' 7–24 defeat by

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...

in the 1970–71 Challenge Cup Final during the 1970–71 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on Saturday 15 May 1971, in front of a crowd of 85,514. He transferred to

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

in 1972, before finishing his career at

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...

Representative honours

Cowan represented Other Nationalities (RL) while at Leeds, he was a substitute in the 2–19 defeat by St. Helens at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road is a former football stadium in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. It was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For ...

, St. Helens on Wednesday 27 January 1965, to mark the switching-on of new

floodlight A floodlight is a broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial light. It can provide functional area lighting for travel-ways, parking, entrances, work areas, and sporting venues to enable visibility adequate for safe task performance, ornament ...

Personal life

Cowan is the son of the rugby union and rugby league footballer for Hull F.C.;

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

"Jim"/ "Jimmy" Cowan, and the younger brother of the rugby union, and rugby league footballer;

Stan Cowan Stan Cowan (22 December 1931 – 8 February 2015) was a Scottish rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He played representative rugby union (RU) for South of Scotland, including against the New ...

Notes

* Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany'' (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ) * Massie, Allan ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby'' (Polygon, Edinburgh; )

References

External links

Statistics at en.espn.co.ukSearch for "Cowan" at rugbyleagueproject.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Ronnie 1941 births Living people 20th-century Scottish sportsmen British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Hull F.C. players Keighley Cougars players Leeds Rhinos players Other Nationalities rugby league team players Rugby articles needing expert attention Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Selkirk, Scottish Borders Rugby union players from Selkirk, Scottish Borders Rugby union wings Scotland international rugby union players Scottish rugby league players Scottish rugby union players Selkirk RFC players Sportspeople from Selkirk, Scottish Borders