Ben Mowen has paid tribute to the work of Jake White and Laurie Fisher © Getty Images

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For a player in his eighth season of Super Rugby, and with more than 70 caps to his name across three states, there must have been times in recent seasons when Ben Mowen wondered if he was ever going to take "the next step".

Like all professional sportspeople, though, Mowen is nothing if not patient. After a storming first year as the Brumbies No.8 and captain, Mowen was included in several of Robbie Deans' wider training squads last year. He made the final squad for the June internationals, but didn't play a Test.

Come June this year, and with the British & Irish Lions arriving, Mowen's form for the Brumbies could not be ignored. Even before squads were named, Mowen was entrenched as the leading lineout forward in Super Rugby, and his general play at No.8 was excellent. With Scott Higginbotham ruled out for the season with a shoulder injury, and Dave Dennis' form a bit off in a rebuilding New South Wales Waratahs side, most pundits had Mowen pencilled in to make his Test debut against the Lions.

And that's where the rapid rise element of the Ben Mowen story takes over. He was named on the blindside flank to debut in the first Test, but his selection was still in many ways considered a 50-50 decision; Dennis' ongoing presence in the Wallabies squad seemed to confirm that. But Mowen was outstanding in his debut Test, and he emerged from the Lions series defeat as one of the Wallabies' best and most consistent forwards. In the space of three weeks, he went from questionable inclusion to being a Wallabies certainty for the foreseeable future. Considering how long Mowen had waited for his opportunity, his rise within the Wallabies side can really only be described as meteoric.

"I guess it can present as being meteoric when you look at it in those terms," Mowen told ESPNscrum in an exclusive interview as the Wallabies prepared in Sydney for The Rugby Championship-opening Bledisloe Cup Test against the All Blacks at ANZ Stadium.

"I've been playing Super Rugby for a long time, and I've been sizzling away at different parts of my game year in, year out, and I've been desperate the whole time to be a part of [the Wallabies]. You get to a point where you've just got to knock down that one last wall, and you know that your best footy's going to come through, and that's the way I felt last year. I felt I'd played some of the best footy of my career, and I just knew that if I worked really hard in the off-season that even better footy would come [in 2013]. And that's the way I feel at the moment, too. I'm really happy with the way I'm playing, but I know there's so much more still to come."

" ... probably been my biggest strength this year, in being able to carry through further," Ben Mowen says © Getty Images

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Mowen has spoken over the past 12 months of the elements within his game that now-former Wallabies coach Robbie Deans wanted him to improve in order to take the next step, without really detailing the changes; now that he can elaborate, it's easy to see the differences in his game from 2012 to now.

"[Deans] wanted to see me to carry through more metres in the tackle, so being able to carry through that point of contact. I've definitely achieved that this year, which I've been really proud of. It's a big part of game, and it's probably been my biggest strength this year, in being able to carry through further."

Mowen's increased acceleration into and through contact has certainly been noticeable in 2013. "That's got a lot to do with the work I've done with [Brumbies forwards coach] Laurie Fisher around my leg drive into contact. It's nice to get honest feedback, but it's also nice to have access to coaches who can make sure you get that feedback transferred into your performance.

"And Laurie's probably been one of the biggest influences on my physical presence in games in my whole career; he's been an amazing coach and I love working with him."

Deans, too, was happy with the transformation.

"We only had a small number of chats, with the way it all unfolded, at the end of that disappointing last game, but he did say how pleased he was with me throughout the entire series," Mowen says.

"So it was nice to have made that journey from not being able to make the side, and him giving me specific feedback, and then being able to go away and work on it, to him recognising that I'd done the work, and rewarding me with [Wallabies] representation. It was a nice reward for those conversations."

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Mowen's performance throughout the series was exceptional; to the point that after the second Test, won 16-15 by the Wallabies at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, with the spectre of possible suspension looming over the head of James Horwill, legendary former Wallabies skipper John Eales suggested that Mowen - an Australian Under-21 captain in 2005 - had emerged as a potential Wallabies captain in Horwill's absence.

"Yeah, it is, particularly coming from a bloke like John," Mowen replied when asked whether his mind was blown by Eales' suggestion after just his second Test Match.

"He is the Wallaby captain. When I think of a Wallabies captain, I think of 'Ealesy' every time. It was really nice for a guy like him to say that. I do feel more and more confident each time I'm out there, and I feel really confident in my ability, and I've worked extremely hard on my leadership at the Brumbies with Jake [White, the Brumbies head coach]."

Ewen McKenzie has instilled a new attitude among the Wallabies, Ben Mowen says

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With new coach Ewen McKenzie intent on the Wallabies doing things differently post-Deans, it would not surprise to see Mowen featuring more heavily during the Rugby Championship campaign. Mowen provides a new voice within that senior group of Wallabies - namely Horwill, Will Genia, Stephen Moore and Adam Ashley-Cooper. Importantly, Mowen doesn't carry the baggage of never having won against New Zealand.

The vibe under McKenzie is completely different, Mowen says; a new air of excitement prevails.

"It is different. You get that buzz and excitement whenever a new coach comes into a team environment, because it means that everyone starts from scratch again. No-one's got a heel up on the other bloke, and not just the guys from the Reds, but everyone from outside as well is just so excited to work with him because he's just so well respected among the Australian playing group as a strategic thinker and as a guy who does think outside the box.

"And he's obviously a Wallaby himself; he's held the Bledisloe Cup. To have a guy like that coming in as head coach is really exciting, and hopefully it begins a new era for Australian rugby."

That thinking from outside the box saw players remaining unsure of the final team composition even as late as Tuesday afternoon, with reports the final backline was yet to run together as a combination. And come Wednesday, there was strong suggestion that McKenzie's first big surprise as coach might in fact be to play young Brumbies fly-half Matt Toomua at No.10, with Quade Cooper used as a strike weapon off the bench.

Ben Mowen is now likely to be among the first names on the Wallabies' team sheet © Getty Images

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Whether that's McKenzie thinking outside the box, or just playing the type of mind games with the All Blacks and the rugby media that Deans avoided, we will learn when the Wallabies side is named on Thursday afternoon.

And all will be revealed, too. Whereas the Australian rugby media and public got used to Deans teams leaking sometimes as early as 48 hours before the official announcement, McKenzie's first side remained shrouded in more secrecy than a certain piece of linen in northern Italy.

Regardless of the cloak-and-dagger tactics, there seems little doubt that Mowen will be in the Wallabies XV to face the All Blacks, and he is understandably exciting about making his Bledisloe debut.

"Oh mate, it'd be amazing," Mowen says of the prospect. "This is the time of year when you get excited because it is the Wallabies v All Blacks and you get to see the Haka. Back in the days when we were consistently winning the Bledisloe, I remember trying to find out who were the Kiwis around me so I could make sure that once we won I could get stuck into them and make sure they knew who was holding the cup for the next year!

"All that excitement doesn't leave you just because you're that little bit older; it's still genuinely there. It's going to be a very special week, and hopefully we can give Australian big result this weekend."

Ben Mowen has been flagged as a potential Wallabies captain © Getty Images

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