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Ffion Bowen (born 28 January 1991) is a Welsh rugby union player who plays winger for Maesteg Celtic/Ospreys and the Wales women's national rugby union team. She won her first international cap against Italy in the 2014 Women's Six Nations Championship. Outside of rugby, she works as a dental nurse.

Rugby career

Ffion Bowen was born in Brecon, Powys on 28 January 1991. As of 2016, her official Wales Rugby Union biography states that she is 1.68 metres (5.5 ft) tall, and weighs 71 kilograms (11.2 st; 157 lb). Bowen took up rugby after the netball club she played for in Neath closed. She was told about a new women's club being opened at Maesteg Celtic. After some success with Celtic, she was called up to the Ospreys.

She was called up for the Wales women's national rugby union team in the 2014 Women's Six Nations Championship, as one of six uncapped players in the squad. Head coach Rhys Edwards said in an interview with the South Wales Argus after selecting the squad that Bowen had only been brought to his attention less than three weeks before. Bowen made her international debut in a match against Italy on 2 February 2014. This was less than 18 months after she first took up the sport. Prior to the game, she said "I didn't expect to get in the Ospreys let alone be selected for Wales. I’m really excited but I will have to do a lot of training."

Bowen suffered an eye injury prior to the 2016 Women's Six Nations Championship, and was replaced in the squad by Bethan Dainton. In addition to her main clubs and country, Bowen also plays for the Flamingoes, a women's beach rugby team. Outside of rugby, she works as a dental nurse.

References

1. ^ "Ffion Bowen". Wales Rugby Union. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
2. ^ "Dental nurse to play rugby for Wales – just 18 months after taking up the sport". South Wales Evening Post. 15 January 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
3. "Six uncapped players in Wales Women's Six Nations squad". South Wales Argus. 17 December 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
4. ^ Kirwan, Chris (9 March 2016). "Wales wing Bethan Dainton proving to be a fast learner after 'whirlwind' year". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
5. Watson, Fraser (3 August 2015). "Flamingoes pipped by Bambu Barbarians". Western Telegraph. Retrieved 2 May 2016.

• 1991 births
• Living people
• Rugby union players from Brecon
• Welsh female rugby union players
• Wales women's international rugby union players
• Welsh nurses
• Dental nurses
• British women nurses
• 21st-century British sportswomen
• 21st-century Welsh women
• 21st-century nurses