Wales were behind in the game with little time remaining when Owen tricked his opposite number, Bernard Oughtred, into an off-side tackle near the English posts.

The referee for that match was a Mr. Findlay of the Scottish Rugby Union, whose interpretation of the rules was so confusing the Welsh players gave away eleven penalties,[10] seven within goal range, before the first half.

Owen decided that rather than give any further dubious penalties away, he allowed his English counterpart to put the ball into scrums even when it was a Welsh put-in.

Owen was first capped for his country in a winning game against Ireland on 16 March 1901, a match notable for also seeing the international debut of Rhys Gabe.

Although Owen won five Triple Crowns and captained Wales on three occasions, he is most remembered for his actions in the Match of the Century, the historic Welsh win over the original All Blacks during the New Zealand tour of Britain in 1905.

[13] Later in the match Owen would be recognised as the orchestrator of the move that led to Teddy Morgan scoring the only and winning try.