Leigh Halfpenny left Italian hosts stunned at post-match function
Wales legend Ken Owens has revealed the hilarious moment Leigh Halfpenny broke into song in the middle of Rome whilst 'stone cold sober'.
Speaking on the latest episode of BBC's Scrum V: The Warm Up, Owens appeared as a guest alongside ex-Wales internationals Alex Cuthbert and Ellis Jenkins.
Owens and Cuthbert were reminiscing about a particular time during the golden era, where Wales won back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013. The Wales team had been invited to the famous Palazzo Venezia for a post-match function following victory over the Italians in 2013.
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"I remember we were out in Rome, and the after-match function was dead," began Owens. "We sent Lou (Reed) up and he went and sung again. A couple of minutes later, we sat down and it was a bit drab.
"All of a sudden, Leigh Halfpenny, who was stone cold sober, just walked up to this pulpit, Mussolini's Palace in the middle of Rome, and just started belting out 'Roller, Roller', the boys were loving it! The Italians didn't know what was going on!"
"There was a lot of Italians, weren't there?," added Cuthbert. "They didn't have a clue what Leigh Halfpenny was singing!"
With Halfpenny being known as a more reserved character, it would have taken everyone by surprise, but Owens revealed the quiet full-back legend has a mischievous side and a dry sense of humour that often saw him catch people off guard.
Cuthbert then recounted a famous tale that saw an angry Rob Howley launch an investigation after a number of players were found to have ordered late night burgers following victory over Scotland.
"A funny one - we were out in Scotland. I think it was the 2013 championship," continued Cuthbert. "We'd just beaten Scotland. We had a curfew, the boys weren't allowed to go out for drinks because we had England the week after - the championship game, they're going for a Grand Slam.
"We all had a couple of beers out, came back to the hotel and made sure everyone was in bed by 12. Got to the morning, we all jumped on the bus to go to the airport, and someone from the hotel runs out and stops the bus - 'Excuse me. You've got an outstanding bill on one of the rooms.'
"Thumper (Alan Phillips), team manager, is like - 'What do you mean?' - he looked at the bill, and it was quite a bit of money! On the bill were eight burgers, a couple of beers and so forth, so the bill was pretty big. Got onto the bus, got to the airport, went onto the plane, Howlers (Rob Howley) was at the front saying - 'Righ, did you have a burger? Did you have a burger?' - to all the players, and everyone goes - 'No' - it got to Mike Phillips and he (Howley) said - 'Did you have a burger, Mike?'
"He goes - 'Well, even if I did, you're going to pick me next week anyway' - obviously he says no.
Come the week after... we beat England quite comfortably in the end, 30 points to three," added Owens. "As what normally happens, coaches will go - 'Boys, have you got anything to say?' - Phillsy, hand up - 'I had the burgers!'"
"There was a plethora of hands that jumped up then, wasn't there!," said Cuthbert.
Six Nations rugby is just one week away now, too. Wales face France in Paris on opening night with an 8.15pm kick-off on January 31.
