SOUTHERN MAN: He may be from Southland, but Jimmy Cowan will ply his trade from Auckland next year in Super Rugby.
The Blues have confirmed the signing of former All Blacks halfback Jimmy Cowan for next season.
Cowan played 51 tests for the All Blacks and 108 games for the Highlanders before a two-year stint with English club Gloucester.
The 32-year-old, who was playing for Tasman in the NPC, would fill the void left by Piri Weepu’s departure and compete with incumbent Bryn Hall.
“Jimmy brings competitiveness, plenty of experience and great game awareness which is something we were really looking for,” Blues coach Sir John Kirwan said.
“We’ve got some good young guys coming through in Bryn Hall, Ihaia West and Simon Hickey coupled with Dan Bowden coming back but we still felt we were lacking a bit of experience through that combination.
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“Piri Weepu left a bit of a hole, but we think Jimmy’s really going to step into that role and be fundamental to the growth of this franchise.”
Cowan was relishing a return to Super Rugby in 2015.
“I had a great time overseas but I’m really happy to be back in New Zealand and I still have a real hunger and desire to prove myself at the next level,” Cowan said.
“I’m excited about moving up to Auckland to join the Blues and feel I can really contribute towards helping them achieve success.”
Hailing from Invercargill, Cowan debuted for the Southland Stags in 2000 at the age of 18 before earning a call-up to the Highlanders in 2003.
He was called into the All Blacks for the 2004 end-of-year tour to Europe and made his debut as a reserve against Italy on the first test of the tour.
In 2012 he headed to England to join Gloucester before returning to New Zealand earlier this year.