{{short description|Wales international rugby union footballer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox rugby biography | name = Dicky Owen | image = Dicky Owen.jpg | caption = Owen in Welsh jersey (1905) | birth_name = Richard Morgan Owen | birth_date = {{Birth date|1876|11|17|df=yes}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1932|2|27|1876|11|17|df=yes}} | birth_place = Llandore, Wales | death_place = Swansea, Wales<ref name="Swansea RFC player profiles"/> | height = {{convert|5|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="Parry-Jones31">Parry-Jones (1999), pg 31.</ref><ref name="Smith132"/><!--Please see talk page before changing Owen's height.--> | weight = 9 st 7 lb | position = Scrum-half | amatyears1 = | amatyears2 = 1899-1913 | amatyears3 = 1906 | amatteam1 = Hafod Rovers | amatteam2 = Swansea RFC | amatteam3 = Glamorgan | ru_amclubcaps = | ru_amclubpoints = | ru_amupdate = | repteam1 = Wales<ref>[https://archive.today/20110526091253/http://www.wru.co.uk/12750_14256.php?player=26202&includeref=dynamic Welsh Rugby Union player profiles]</ref> | repyears1 = 1901-1912 | repcaps1 = 35 | reppoints1 = 6 | ru_ntupdate = | coachteams1 = | coachyears1 = | ru_coachupdate = | occupation = steelworker<ref name="Smith133"/><br/>publican<ref name="bbc.co.uk"/> | relatives = Will Joseph (cousin) }} '''Dicky Owen''' (17 November 1876 - 27 February 1932) was a Welsh international scrum-half who played club rugby for Swansea RFC<ref name="Smith132">Smith (1979), pg 132.</ref> Owen is seen as one of the greatest Welsh scrum-halves and won 35 caps for Wales between 1901 and 1912, a record that was unbeaten until 1955 when Ken Jones surpassed him.<ref name="Thomas33">Thomas (1979), pg 33.</ref>

==Influence in rugby== Born Richard Morgan Owen<ref name="Swansea RFC player profiles">[http://www.swansearfc.co.uk/history_browser_view.php?image_id=459 Swansea RFC player profiles]{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> in 1876, "Dicky" Owen was one of the great players of Wales' first Golden Era of rugby. He played in five Triple Crown-winning teams and along with Gareth Edwards and Haydn Tanner is seen as one of the greatest scrum-halves to play for Wales.<ref name="Thomas33"/>

Owen was an innovative rugby player, continually attempting to devise new tactics and moves. He is recognised as a developer of feint attacks and realised the influence of a scrum-half linking with wing-forwards in attacking moves.<ref name="Thomas33"/> He is also noted for his swift distribution play, which some fly-halves, especially Percy Bush found difficult to adapt to.<ref name="Thomas33"/> Speaking in 1927, Owen explained his philosophy on scrum-half play:

{{cquote|...My advice to a scrum half is to do away with kicking into touch; or in fact, any kicking at all. That should be left to the stand off...My idea is that the scrum worker, directly the ball is heeled, should pass direct and as swiftly as possible to the stand-off man...If you are going to pass do so at once, and from the very spot where you get the ball. If you decide to run, also do so at once, and keep thinking as you run.<ref name="Smith132-33">Smith (1979), pg 132-33.</ref>}}

An example of Owen's tactical mind was seen in one of his early international matches against England in 1902. Wales were behind in the game with little time remaining when Owen tricked his opposite number, Bernard Oughtred, into an off-side tackle near the English posts. With the Welsh in charge of the scrum on the English '25', Owen told his forwards, in Welsh,<ref name="Smith132"/> to keep hold of the ball, while Owen bent down and pretended to collect it. Oughtred came around the scrum to tackle Owen and finding the Welshman empty handed was penalised for being off-side. John Strand-Jones kicked the penalty, allowing Wales to win 9–8.<ref>Griffiths, John, ''Book of English International Rugby 1871-1982'', London, Willow Books/Collins {{ISBN|0-00-218006-5}}</ref>

On 9 January 1904 Wales again faced England during the Home Nations Championship. The referee for that match was a Mr. Findlay of the Scottish Rugby Union, whose interpretation of the rules was so confusing the Welsh players gave away eleven penalties,<ref name="Smith124">Smith (1979), pg 124.</ref> seven within goal range, before the first half. Owen decided that rather than give any further dubious penalties away, he allowed his English counterpart to put the ball into scrums even when it was a Welsh put-in.<ref name="Smith124"/><ref name="Parry-Jones110">Parry-Jones (1999), pg 110.</ref>

==Club career== Owen first played rugby with the town team, Hafod Rovers,<ref name="Smith133">Smith (1979), pg 133.</ref> before moving to Swansea Rugby Club in 1899. Owen played his club rugby partnered with Dick Jones at half-back; known as the 'Dancing Dicks',<ref name="Smith133"/> they were used to devastating effect as they combined their half-back play with running three-quarters.<ref name="Thomas33"/> Owen spent 14 years with the club until 1913, and captained Swansea during the 1911–12 season.

==International career== thumb|right|1905 Wales squad, Owen, front row, central Owen was first capped for his country in a winning game against Ireland on 16 March 1901, a match notable for also seeing the international debut of Rhys Gabe.<ref name="Parry-Jones87">Parry-Jones (1999), pg 87.</ref> Owen's longevity as an international rugby player is quite surprising considering his slight build and the want of the Welsh Rugby Union selection committee to chop and change the formation of the national side at will. Owen was seen as a first choice by the selectors, and his ability to play with numerous differing partners kept him in the side.

Although Owen won five Triple Crowns and captained Wales on three occasions, he is most remembered for his actions in the ''Match of the Century'', the historic Welsh win over the original All Blacks during the New Zealand tour of Britain in 1905. During the match against the All Blacks, Owen bravely supported his seven forwards but took a heavy pounding from the New Zealand pack resulting in Owen receiving a cracked rib.<ref name="Parry-Jones151">Parry-Jones (1999), pg 151.</ref> Later in the match Owen would be recognised as the orchestrator of the move that led to Teddy Morgan scoring the only and winning try.<ref>Davies, John; etal ''The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales'' (2008) University of Wales Press, pg638. {{ISBN|978-0-7083-1953-6}}</ref>

'''International matches played'''<ref name="Smith470">Smith (1980), pg 470.</ref> * {{ru|AUS}} 1908 * {{ru|ENG}} 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912 * {{ru|FRA}} 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911 * {{ru|IRE}} 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1908, 1909, 1911 * {{ru|NZL}} 1905 * {{ru|SCO}} 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1909, 1911, 1912 * {{ru|RSA}} 1906

==Retirement and later life== Owen retired from international rugby, at the age of 34, in 1912 in a 21–6 victory<ref name="Smith476">Smith (1980), pg 476.</ref> against Scotland, fittingly played at St Helens in Swansea. Owen was given the captaincy for this match and after the final whistle was carried from the field shoulder high.<ref name="Thomas34">Thomas (1979), pg 34.</ref> He would retire from rugby completely the following year when he left Swansea Rugby Club in 1913. As fitting many sports people he became a publican on retirement from rugby. Owen killed himself in the Swansea pub he ran in 1932;<ref name="Smith132"/><ref name="bbc.co.uk">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/10_october/20/century.shtml '''Reliving victory over the All Blacks 1905-style'''] BBC press release</ref> he was 55.

==Bibliography== * {{cite book |last=Parry-Jones |first=David |title=Prince Gwyn, Gwyn Nicholls and the First Golden Era of Welsh Rugby |year=1999 |publisher=seren |location=Bridgend |isbn=1-85411-262-7}} * {{cite book |last=Smith |first=David |author2=Williams, Gareth |title=Fields of Praise: The Official History of The Welsh Rugby Union |year=1980 |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=Cardiff |isbn=0-7083-0766-3}} * {{cite book |last=Thomas |first=Wayne |title=A Century of Welsh Rugby Players |year=1979 |publisher=Ansells Ltd}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-sports|ruc}} {{succession box|title=Swansea RFC captain|before=Billy Trew|after=Billy Trew|years=1911-1912}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Dicky}} Category:1876 births Category:1932 suicides Category:1932 deaths Category:19th-century Welsh sportsmen Category:20th-century Welsh sportsmen Category:Glamorgan County RFC players Category:Rugby union players from Swansea Category:Rugby union scrum-halves Category:Suicides in Wales Category:Swansea RFC players Category:Wales international rugby union players Category:Wales rugby union captains Category:Welsh rugby union players