Cowan caps his revival

All Blacks scrum-half Jimmy Cowan will win his seventeenth cap on Saturday in the Tri-Nations decider against Australia as he finally puts his off-field problems behind him.

All Blacks scrum-half Jimmy Cowan will win his seventeenth cap on Saturday in the Tri-Nations decider against Australia as he finally puts his off-field problems behind him.

Cowan's on-field battle to regain his spot in the All Blacks starting line-up has coincided with a string of off-field disciplinary incidents, but both have come full circle as the scrum-half has anchored his spot in Graham Henry's team for the “biggest game of [his] life.”

After initially missing out on selection for the 2008 squad and his much-publicised brushes with the law, Cowan was thrown a Test lifeline as injuries to Andy Ellis and Brendon Leonard gave him the opportunity to make the number nine jumper his own.

“I was very fortunate first with Brendon's injury and then Andy's injury to get the start,” a reflective Cowan told Yahoo!Xtra.

“You don't wish injuries upon your mates, I do feel for them. It must be hard for them sitting back and watching.

“[But] you have to make the most of your opportunities and put your best foot forward. I have managed to do that to date.

“I will be straight up with you, it was disappointing [to miss selection] and hard to take,” said Cowan.

“In 2007 I set a major goal in my rugby career to make the World Cup and I missed out. And I found that hard to deal with. But I re-signed (with the NZRU). And one of the major reasons I re-signed was to get back into the All Black jersey and be a part of this group.”

“I have had a couple of Test matches under my belt now in the number nine jersey,” he added

“They meant a lot to me at the time. And they were pressure-cooker games for me as an individual and for the team's sake.

“But when you have a game like this, with the Tri- Nations on the line, the Bledisloe Cup on the line, it is a different situation. It is probably fair to say this is probably one of the biggest games of my life, of my career. I can't wait to get amongst it.”

Cowan had nearly thrown away any chances he had of returning to the All Blacks fold. A series of early morning arrests following alleged alcohol-related incidents led the All Blacks management to ban him from touching booze and order him to undertake counseling.

The message was clear, any more incidents and his international career was over. The scrum-half vowed to repay his team-mates and All Black coaching staff for the confidence they had placed in him, and this weekend he will have the chance to thank them in the best way possible.

“I have probably come of age over the last two months,” he explained.

“I have had a rocky road, I probably thought to myself where I got to the time where I had two roads. I could have gone that way or this way. I am heading down the right track at the moment.

“And I seem to be growing as a person too. So I have them to thank and some of the other guys I have been around. They have been fantastic.”

“I enjoy being around them, the same with the coaching scenario. I haven't had better coaches in my rugby career.

“So there is no reason why I can't go out and perform. I am getting good coaching, I am around good people, I am doing all my homework. I have every reason to play well.

“One thing I am critical of is keeping my feet grounded and not looking too far ahead,” he said.

“Hindsight is a great thing but that is all behind me now. I just have to keep looking forward, there is no point in looking back.”