Tommy Bowe will celebrate a quick-fire half-century of appearances for the Ospreys at the weekend, just 25 months after his debut for the region.
The Irish flyer has racked up 49 caps since his debut against Connacht in September 2008 following his move from Ulster that summer, and his 50th will come against Toulon on Saturday afternoon.
In that short period he has already scored 26 tries, putting him fourth in the region’s all time try scoring list behind Shane Williams, Nikki Walker and Lee Byrne, and after initially joining on a two year contract, he agreed to extend his stay in Ospreylia last season, signing a new contract that runs until summer 2013.
Speaking about reaching the 50-cap mark in such a short period of time, Bowe said:
“I’m only at the start of my third season as an Osprey so it’s great to have notched up so many caps already, especially with the 50th coming in such a big game for the team. It’s always great to reach any landmark, and it’ll make Saturday all the more memorable for me personally.
“I’ve managed to stay relatively trouble free and away from any serious injury since I came here, and hopefully that will keep going so that I can continue clocking up the games. It’s great that the Ospreys look at these milestones and make sure that they get flagged up as its important to team spirit that achievements like this get recognised. So many players in the squad can sometimes get overlooked, doing this makes sure that everyone gets due recognition for their service.
“I came here in 2008 to improve myself as a player, and to be part of an ambitious organisation that wants to compete at the highest level and I couldn’t be happier to be honest. I signed a new deal last season as I believe that we are definitely heading in the right direction, and hopefully we can continue that progress this season.”
Ospreys Head Coach, Sean Holley, said that Bowe has quickly established himself within the Ospreys family:
“His 50 has come around really quickly, which just goes to show the huge impact he’s made here in a very short period of time since joining us. He’s played a lot of games and has become an integral member of our squad.
“He’s settled very quickly into our environment, feels very comfortable here as part of what we are trying to build, and we’ve been able to help him improve his all-round game since he’s been here.
“Not only has he become a true Osprey on the field, but he is also showing those values off the field as well and having recently extended his contract to ensure he stays here until 2013, I look forward to marking his 100th cap in the not too distant future.”
With Toulon providing the opposition for his 50th cap, Bowe says that he is expecting not only the French side, but also the other sides in Pool Three, to provide a stern test of the Ospreys’ European credentials:
“Toulon away is going to be very difficult” he insisted.
“They’ve got a first rate squad with some very senior players at 8,9,10, some world class players. It’s on their patch and they are a very proud French team that won’t want to give anything away at home, but we are very ambitious and believe in our own ability, so we will go over there looking to bring something back with us.
“It’s a very, very difficult group we find ourselves in. As well as Toulon who have spent huge amounts of money to build a squad that will be the envy of any club in Europe, we’ve got Munster who’ve not failed to make the quarter finals in something like 10 years I think and London Irish who have started the season well and are top of the Premiership. We want to qualify for a fourth consecutive quarter-final but we are well aware of the size of the challenge ahead of us.”