
Force legend Cowan relishing emotional return
Having played his entire Super Rugby career with the Western Force between 2006-2017, earning 130 caps along the way, Pek Cowan is understandably full of emotion upon re-joining the club.
The 34-year-old prop, who has 10 Wallabies caps to his name, has returned west after spending the last few seasons in Japan’s Top League with the Shimizu Blue Sharks.
“There’s a lot of emotion attached to a team that means a lot to me,” Cowan said. “[Force] meant a lot to me then and means even more to me now that I’m back in that environment again.
“Watching the boys out there, the work they’re doing, sitting in meetings, speaking with them, you can feel that they want to do their best. They’ve got that confidence and belief there, which is something I really want to be a part of,” he added.
Cowan was able to finally join the squad last week after undergoing two weeks of quarantine and cannot wait to further immerse himself back amongst the group.
“As soon as I heard we might have the opportunity to play Super Rugby again, I thought that there was no other team that I’d love to be involved with,” the Force legend stated.
“I had the two weeks in isolation where I was able to regather my thoughts and set a few goals for myself personally – I’m really happy to be here.”
Cowan was quick to praise the efforts of the team following two gallant and exciting performances against the Waratahs and Reds.
“We’ve turned a lot of heads, especially last week against the Reds. We were able to score points and our set pieces were strong.
“You can already see with the style of play we try to execute during Global Rapid Rugby, that attacking style, is allowing us to score. It’s exciting to watch and I really can’t wait to get that opportunity to play,” he said.
Having begun training and mentally prepared himself, Cowan is chomping at the bit to get his chance to don the black and blue again.
“Thankfully I’ve been able to train, so it’s now about making sure I’m ready to play whenever that’s my mentality.”
The Force take on the ACT Brumbies this Saturday night at Leichhardt Oval from 5:15pm (AWST), live on Fox Sports and Kayo.
Grab your tickets from Ticketmaster here.