Ben Mowen to captain Wallabies against Argentina in just his seventh Test

BEN Mowen will become Australia's 80th Test captain. His journey to the pinnacle of Australian rugby has been anything but straightforward.

Ben Mowen

BEN Mowen will become Australia's 80th Test captain when he leads the Wallabies out against Argentina in Perth on Saturday night.

His journey to the pinnacle of Australian rugby has been anything but straightforward, with Mowen representing three Super Rugby franchises in a near-decade long climb to Test level.

Brisbane-born Mowen, a product of Villanova College, kicked off his Super Rugby career with the Queensland Reds in 2006, but played just one game before moving south to try his luck with arch-rivals NSW.

He played 41 games in three seasons with the Waratahs, before he was let go following the 2011 season as NSW made room for Wallabies backrower Rocky Elsom.

After considering overseas options, Mowen eventually joined the Brumbies - the side Elsom left - to link up with World Cup-winning South African coach Jake White.

It was in Canberra that he hit his best form, assuming the captaincy and guiding a team that had finished 13th in 2011 to the verge of the Super Rugby finals in his first campaign with the club, before leading them all the way to the Super Rugby final in 2013.

It was also in 2013 that he was finally recognised as a Test player, with then coach Robbie Deans calling Mowen up to the Wallabies squad for the British and Irish Lions series.

With regular backrow enforcer Scott Higginbotham unavailable through injury, Mowen won his first Wallabies cap at blindside flanker in the opening Test at Suncorp Stadium and won rave reviews for his performance. He kept his spot on the side of the scrum for the remainder of the series.

An injury to Wycliff Palu saw him switched to No.8 for the Wallabies' opening three Rugby Championship clashes, with Will Genia's demotion to the bench resulting in his ascension to the Australian captaincy in just his seventh Test.

Mowen becomes the least-capped Wallabies captain since Ken Catchpole who made his Test debut as skipper in 1961.

Former Wallabies captain Andrew Slack - another Villanova product - said Mowen was a good call to lead Australia given "the good job he's done with the Brumbies''.

"He's been around a while, been a very intelligent and well-respected player and from a distance a very good captain,'' Slack told Fox Sports News.

Ben Mowen
Age: 28
Position: Backrower
Tests: 6
Super Rugby teams: Queensland Reds (2006), NSW Waratahs (2009-2011), ACT Brumbies (2012 - present)