Phil Dowson

In the summer of 2001, Rob Andrew hailed the young backs who had broken into the Newcastle first team.  In 2001/02, he said, it would be the forwards’ turn.

One of the young forwards in question was back-rower Phil Dowson.  Now the Falcons’ regular number 8, Dowse started slowly, making his debut in the Heineken Cup in October 2001 away to Toulouse as a replacement for Gareth MacLure.  A month later came his Premiership bow, replacing David Richardson against Gloucester in a tight 18-16 win.

2001/02 had been a slow introduction to senior rugby for Dowson, but an injury to Richard Arnold saw him start 2002/03 at openside against Wasps.  This year also saw his first senior try, an early score at Saracens in the Parker Pen Cup.

However, Dowson was still a bit-part player and this continued into 2003/04 until April 17^th 2004 when Phil did what many dream of but few achieve – he came off the bench to score the winning try against Sale in the Powergen Cup Final at Twickenham.

Whilst it didn’t have the drama of David Walder’s 2001 miracle, this is the greatest moment of Dowson’s young career so far and when he retires it may still be.

Last season Dowson became an integral part of our team, fixed in the back row with Colin Charvis and Cory Harris.  The arrival of Owen Finegan threatens Dowson’s place in the first XV, however with his speed, strength and dynamism he is sure to remain a key figure at Newcastle, having racked up almost 70 appearances already.

He’s also scored the Falcons’ try of the season for the past two seasons, following up that cup final effort in 2004 with the final part of a length of the field move against Wasps in February 2005.

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