“We can officially confirm that Michael Owen will captain the Wales side against Scotland at Murrayfield next weekend,” said Ruddock. “We are in a position of strength in making the appointment as Michael was one of the primary candidates who undertook the interview process which eventually appointed Gareth.
“We know he has the right credentials for the job and he is a player I have worked with before at both regional and international level for some time.
“The current crop of players in the Welsh team is full of young leaders, but we are hoping the role will bring out the best in Michael as it did during the second half against France. He proved himself in that game when the chips were down and we have always known he was a Wales captain of the future.
“He is a popular player who shows true leadership qualities both on and off the pitch and he was one of the top performers in the interview process we held in September and could easily have been awarded the job then.”
Owen, who inherits a Wales side currently unbeaten in the Championship, will lead the team as the 122nd player to Captain Wales and he expects it to be a surreal experience.
“Obviously to be asked to Captain your country is a fantastic honour, but it’s taking a while to sink in with me at the moment,” he said. “It will be a pretty surreal experience to be honest, to lead the team out in such a massive game and I can’t really imagine what I will be feeling at this stage.
“Both my parents where chuffed to bits when I told them and I know I just have to follow Alfie’s (Gareth Thomas) lead and be myself. He is a unique character and so there is no way I can recreate his style of Captaincy but the key thing I have learnt from him is that you need to be yourself to get it right.
“There are plenty of leaders in this side who will all make the job easy and it could really have been any one of a number of players who could have got the nod. It’s a great time to be the Wales captain, but we all know we only got to the stage were we have started to win a few games through a lot of hard work and determination over a number of years and we must continue in the same way going forward.”
