Injury ended my shot at England...and All Blacks

DAN BOWDEN THE FORMER HIGHLANDERS, BLUES, CRUSADERS, LONDON IRISH, LEICESTER AND BATH FLY-HALF

- Jon Newcombe

TO be able to tell my kids I once played with Richie McCaw and Dan Carter is unreal. It just shows the levels of esteem they are held in, in New Zealand, that an old pro of 15 years like me, still acts like a fan boy when it comes to those two.

I remember being so fixated on their half-time team talks at the Crusaders. Not only was their message spot on, the way they delivered it carried so much weight. Dan was also a very good person to know when it came to getting free stash – he had more endorsement deals than anyone I’ve ever met! One was with the underwear brand, Jockey. Usually it was only your Nan who’d give you undies but getting them from Dan made it doubly good. Every week your locker would be stuffed full. At 60 dollars a pop, the boys weren’t complaining.

By the time I was 22, I’d already played four seasons of Super Rugby – initially at the Blues, then the Highlanders and Crusaders. It might have been better to have had a steadier progression and learn my trade, but impatience always got the better of me. I wanted to play as much professional rugby as I could, as quickly as I could.

I’ll never forget experiences like lining up opposite Elton Flatley at Ballymore. I was only a year out of school and here I was, testing myself against someone who’d been in a World Cup final only a few years before.

Graham Henry was pretty filthy about me signing for London Irish as I’d come through the New Zealand U19 and U21 teams and was touted as a future All Black. But with so many quality players ahead of me for the 2011 World Cup – Dan, Colin Slade, Aaron Cruden and Stephen Donald, for example – I thought I’d give it a go playing overseas, especially as I had a British passport.