Gareth Bowen first came to prominence as a member of the all-conquering Neath College side that travelled to South Africa in 1996. He had spells at Bedford, Bridgend and Bristol before moving to Llanelli and then the Scarlets.
Bowen heads to Neath
The 27-year-old outside-half will bring poise and quality to a Neath squad that has been under-achieving this season. Neath chairman Geraint Hawkes, who interrupted a business trip to clinch the deal, declared it as a statement of intent.
Hawkes commented, “We are delighted to have a player of Gareth’s caliber joining the squad at the Gnoll. We have produced some fantastic outside halves for regional rugby in the past three years in the form of Matthew Jones and James Hook.”
“It is a key position for us and we were looking for a special player to fill the void left by Hooky’s step up to the Ospreys. It has been difficult finding a ready-made experienced outside half, but we are confident of Gareth’s ability and are certain he will be an asset to our squad.”
“As an outfit Neath Rugby has admired him as a player of confidence and hope he will retain the form he has shown as a top-class professional rugby player with the Scarlets.”
“It has already been well documented that other clubs including Leeds were interested in Gareth and, in a broader sense, we are pleased to have bucked the trend and kept a Welsh player in Wales.”
“Our format of mixing youth and experienced professional players we feel is a winner as we have not only won back to back premiership titles but also developed 12 players into full time professionals.”
