NEWPORT Gwent Dragons forward Michael Owen has emerged as a shock candidate to be the next captain of Wales.

Owen is one of five players who will be interviewed for the post next month, an out-of-the-blue candidate whose name has never been linked with the job.

The current captain is Colin Charvis, and he could even keep the role despite his habit of landing in trouble, and the controversy he caused by refusing to talk to the media because of a pay dispute on tour this summer.

He was officially rebuked, though others wanted to strip him of the captaincy, but new coach Mike Ruddock and the management team now want to go through an interview process before appointing the captain for the four November internationals and beyond.

Ruddock has already laid down a new protocol.

The leading candidates who were previously named are Charvis, Gareth Thomas, Martyn Williams and Stephen Jones, though back row forward Jonathan Thomas has also been mentioned.

Bookmakers have made Gareth Thomas, who sealed a big move from Celtic Warriors to French kings Toulouse in the summer, 4-5 on favourite for the captaincy.

They named Charvis as 7-4, with Jonathan Thomas 7-2, Williams 5-1 and Jones, also playing his rugby in France now, at 5-1 as well.

Owen does not even get a mention, but the Argus can reveal he is one of the five candidates for the job who will be interviewed next month.

Jonathan Thomas is believed to be the odd man out as he is less than certain of his place in the team.

Owen is an outsider, but he has still been sounded out and though he has little experience of the captaincy he could be a long-odds candidate especially if the plan is to build for the 2007 World Cup from now.

Charvis, Gareth Thomas, Williams and Jones may not even be around then whereas Owen, who is not 24 until mid-November, is sure to be a key man for the next World Cup.

Owen joined the Dragons in the middle of last year and was the first big name signing for the new region. He would have gone to the World Cup, but was forced to withdraw because of a back injury. He made his Dragons debut against Connacht on November 23 and though then Wales coach Steve Hansen preferred him at lock Ruddock decided on a switch to number eight which Owen himself prefers.

He also went on this summer's tour to Argentina and South Africa and played in the first two Tests, but pulled out of the third with a back injury, unrelated to the one last year. He has now won 15 caps.

Ironically, Owen gets his first taste of captaincy for the Dragons tonight when he leads them into battle against Glasgow at Hughenden.

He steps in to the role in the enforced absence of Jason Forster, who has been ruled out because he is still suffering from the after-effects of the blow to the head he took from Scott Quinnell in last week's game against Llanelli Scarlets.

Owen's performance as a leader will be closely monitored, and he could even end up as the real shock choice as the next Wales captain.