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'Disaster' Australian lock lives up to his nickname
Posted: Thursday October 14, 1999 07:56 PM
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) -- Australian rugby player Tom Bowman, nicknamed "Disaster" by his teammates, was counting his blessings Friday after deciding not to catch a jumbo jet that ploughed off the runway at Bangkok airport. The injured Wallaby lock was scheduled to leave Sydney on Wednesday on board QF1 to join his teammates for the World Cup in Britain. The rest of the squad flew to Ireland on Tuesday. But Bowman decided to delay his departure by a further 24 hours because of complications with a leg injury that had forced him to miss his original departure date. "I think he's glad he missed the flight," an Australian Rugby Union official told Reuters. "He was supposed to fly out on Wednesday but he just wasn't ready so he stayed back an extra day." The Boeing 747-400 jumbo that Bowman was supposed to catch skidded 200 meters past the landing strip at Bangkok airport during a rainstorm late on Thursday. There were no serious injuries as the 407 passengers and crew safely evacuated using emergency slides. Bowman earned his nickname after joining the Wallaby squad in late 1997. Everything around him had a way of falling to pieces - as in a "disaster waiting to happen" - and he gained a reputation for accidentally injuring teammates during practice. Bowman was only called into the squad last week when Brett Robinson failed a fitness test. He was supposed to fly to Ireland with the team Tuesday but was told to stay behind after he cut his leg while training last Saturday. The gash required 19 stitches and medical staff said they were worried the injury could flare up on the long flight.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. 
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