FORMER Wales captain Michael Owen has defended Mike Phillips after the scrum-half was suspended "indefinitely" from the national squad yesterday following a late night incident in Cardiff.

And 2005 Grand Slam-winning skipper Owen doesn’t believe there is a drinking culture in the Wales squad despite a number of high profile alcohol-fuelled bust-ups involving players.

The ex-Newport Gwent Dragons back rower is sympathetic to the 2009 Lions star’s plight and said Phillips has endured a difficult last six months both on and off the field, which includes his Ospreys departure and break-up with singer Duffy.

Owen is urging people not to jump to conclusions after his former Wales teammate Phillips was pictured being led away in handcuffs by police after a city centre altercation.

The photographs, one of which was posted on social networking website Twitter, show the former Ospreys player, who has just signed for French side Bayonne, being held down by bouncers outside McDonald’s in Queen Street at 3am on Tuesday.

South Wales Police said no further action is being taken.

Owen said Phillips, who has been told not to report for training with the Wales squad on Monday as they prepare for the autumn’s World Cup, deserves the benefit of the doubt.

"I think this is a difficult one because it’s hard to judge what happened without the full facts," he said. "The pictures are out there and you can take whatever you want from them."

Owen thinks the Wales players are under intense pressure and are an easy target because of the team’s terrible recent run of form.

"Wales haven’t had the best results and are under much more scrutiny," he said. "Had we just won the Grand Slam, people would be saying about this incident, ‘That Mike Phillips – what a boy!’ "I think people can be very fickle. They like to see someone taken down a peg or two.

"I also think the media has changed (in terms of celebrity obsession) and everyone seems to have a camera phone now.

"I don’t think there is a drinking culture in the Wales squad.

"They have a strong work ethic and are really fit with a big emphasis on conditioning."

Owen empathises with Phillips over this latest setback: "Mike’s had a tough six months. He has been outstanding for Wales and the Lions over the last four years – he’s been the first name on the team sheet.

"But things haven’t gone so well for him recently. It went downhill for him at the Ospreys with him having to go to France and he has split up with his girlfriend.

"Mike’s a really aggressive player on the field but he’s such a nice bloke."

A Welsh Rugby Union statement read yesterday: "The Wales management team will take time to consider circumstances surrounding recent allegations about the player’s behaviour in public whilst on an agreed holiday period from pre-Rugby World Cup training.

"He will remain outside of the squad until further notice."

This isn’t the first time Phillips has hit the headlines for the wrong reasons.

In 2008, he was hospitalised after being attacked outside a Cardiff nightclub. No charges were ever brought. And two years ago, a case against him was dropped after he was arrested following an alleged altercation with a taxi driver.

A number of Wales players have been involved in alcohol-related indiscretions in recent years.

In April Andy Powell received a nasty head injury after he was supposedly attacked by Queens Park Rangers fans in a London pub.

And last year he pleaded guilty to driving a golf buggy while unfit through drink and was banned from driving for 15 months and fined £1,000 by Cardiff magistrates.