Dan Bowden's TRU Blog - Super Rugby and the Aviva Premiership
Hi there guys, Dan Bowden here. I thought I would follow in my old mate Troy Nathan's footsteps and have agreed to to write a blog for the boys at Talking Rugby Union. So to cut a long story short, after playing provincial and Super Rugby in New Zealand I decided to head to Europe last season (2010/11) for a new challenge and I joined London Irish.
I hope I can answer any queries and questions you have for life as a professional rugby player and shed some light on the highs & the lows that go with it. I won't try to get stuck into the boys too much, although some of them are very deserving of it!
After my first season here in the Aviva Premiership I was asked to explain the difference between the Premiership and the Super Rugby competition. Well, to be honest there are many.
Not to say one is better than the other (or to sit on the fence) there are just differences. For example Super Rugby is played in the summer, I can remember playing the Reds in Brisbane at 5 o'clock kickoff where the temperature was still in the 30's and water breaks were introduced every 20 minutes. The effect this has can't be overlooked. Every player loves to play when the sun is shining and the game tends to be more open and free flowing, something you may not be able to say during the middle of winter on a friday night in Manchester or Newcastle. The length of the competition is something else I point out to those asking, as a 16 week competition is a lot shorter than the European season when you factor in extra games such as LV=Cup or the Heineken Cup. Less games means players are less fatigued and can possible perform better for a shorter period of time. The premiership has positives as well, the history and tradition of long standing rival matches between neighbouring teams can produce hugely physical intense games with crowd atmosphere that is unmatched. The ability to play games at Twickenham in front of 70,000 is amazing and one of the highlights of my career.
I managed to injure my ankle during a Heineken Cup game v Racing Metro in Paris 4 weeks ago and I'm still not quite ready to play yet, so this gives me a chance to reflect on our season so far at Irish. We started off well during the RWC period, we were able to play a lot of young players who will no doubt be stars of the future such as Jonathan Joseph, Marland Yarde and Jamie Gibson. After some good bonus point wins and a great comeback draw at Leicester we stumbled in our Heineken cup campaign losing to Cardiff and Edinburgh. However the boys bounced back from a disappointing new years day loss to Bath on a very soggy pitch by beating Sale at home, which now lies us in 5th spot and keeping in touch with the ever important top 4.
The club received some good news lately with Steve Shingler joining Joe Ansbro in the Scotland squad. The poor fella has been given plenty of stick from the lads and has been described as a Welsh boy playing for Irish living in England and now joining Scotland. A one man British Lion has been bandied about at training. On a serious note it's well deserved and a great move for his career. I have always been intrigued with peoples obsession with qualifying and playing for one team or another, the world we live in today is multi cultural / multi racial and people are "from" all walks of life. If you qualify to play, you qualify to play, end of story. It's not where your from, but where your going that counts.
Its also the time of year where boys are thinking about there playing futures. A time for those who maybe contemplating retirement or who are thinking of a different career path, to those re-signing or even looking for a change. I myself fit into one of these categories although I'm not sure which one!
Over the coming weeks if there are any questions you have, I'll do my best to answer them.
I hope you all enjoyed a good festive period and 2012 is a good year for us all.
I will leave you with this gem from our resident comedian at the club, who shall remain nameless. ' A blind man walked down the high street every morning and every morning he went past the fishmongers and shouted in........ good morning ladies!
Until next time
DB
Why not give Dan a follow on twitter - @danbowden_
