Scared team-mate found Lions star sat on toilet thinking he was going to die
'I can tell this story, because spoiler alert, he's not dead,' explained Ugo Monye.
Andy Powell had a little too much caffeine.
(Image: (Photo by))
Former England international Ugo Monye has revealed Andy Powell once "thought he was going to die" after a night out on a British and Irish Lions tour. The former Harlequins flyer told the tale on talkSPORT, with hosts Darren Bent and Andy Goldstein cracking up.
Powell and Monye were teammates on the 2009 Lions tour to South Africa, where the touring side lost 2-1 to the Springboks. Despite going 2-0 down, Sir Ian McGeechan's side were victorious in the third and final match, winning 28-9. Two tries from Shane Williams and one from Monye himself helped seal the win.
A plethora of Welsh players were on that tour, much different to the 2025 edition, which featured only two Welshmen in the initial squad.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Monye revealed that ex-Cardiff star Powell got himself into a right pickle during their celebrations.
"I shared a room with a guy called Andy Powell," began Monye, before telling the tale of Powell's golf buggy trip down the M4 to the hosts.
"Were you nervous about going to sleep?," asked Goldstein. "100%," replied Monye.
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"I remember on the night of the third Test, we'd just won and it was a brilliant night.
"He was just as committed on the pitch as he was to the social side. Everyone knows that Super Sunday is better than Super Saturday.
"Generally, before a game you would have a caffeine tablet to get yourself revved up and motivated. He took four of these after the game because he wanted to go through the night.
"So, he had had four caffeine tablets, a bucket load of Red Bulls, and then we got into bed at around three or four.
"0.3 seconds later he sat bolt upright, because shock horror, he is having heart palpitations.
"I can tell this story, because spoiler alert, he's not dead.
"So, he woke up, having heart palpitations, I'm not in a fit state to manage him and I'm also not a doctor. So I've left the room to try and find our team doctor who was, funnily enough, asleep. There was no one around. I was frightened.
"I go back into the room to not even consider what state he might be in. He's sat on the toilet with his phone in his hand, and his screensaver of his dog. And I was like: 'What are you doing?'
"He was saying goodbye to his dog because he thought he was going to die."
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"I just wonder what the stories you can't tell are," joked Goldstein, before all three cracked up.
In the game itself, it was Monye who crossed for a try, with Wales legend Shane Williams grabbing a brace.
Other Welsh internationals in the squad that day were Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips, Matthew Rees, Martyn Williams, Alun Wyn Jones and James Hook, although the latter did not come off the bench.
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