Ken Owens – following week in which he has played the Wales rugby captain and Welsh rugby powerbroker – says it is now time for him and his team-mates to restore some pride as wounded England roll into Cardiff
- Strike threat saw a compromised reached between Wales players and the board
- Six Nations clash between Wales and England had been under serious threat
- Ken Owens, the Wales captain, said it is now time to focus on the task at hand
After a remarkable week in which he has played both Wales captain and Welsh rugby powerbroker, it was no surprise Ken Owens looked tired on the eve of facing England.
‘Don’t you worry about me,’ said Owens, his voice hoarse. ‘I’m fine.’
The 36-year-old admitted the last seven days or so has been the most remarkable period of his long career after he and his Wales players threatened to strike for the England game before an agreement was reached on a series of contractual disputes with their Welsh rugby bosses.
‘Hopefully we will never end up in this situation again,’ said Owens. ‘The biggest positive we can take from all this is how united the players have been and how strongly we’ve backed each other.
‘A lot of us senior players in Welsh rugby have experienced this before.
Ken Owens admitted the days leading up to Saturday’s clash with England had been the most remarkable of his long career
‘It has definitely galvanised us and that has shown in the unity of the actions that were taken.’
After a tumultuous period that must rank as one of Welsh rugby’s biggest ever crises, Owens and his team now have to somehow turn their attentions to the on-field action.
Warren Gatland’s side were hammered by Ireland and Scotland in the first two rounds of the Six Nations and then the strike threat completely overshadowed the build-up to the England game. ‘We’re probably disappointed it got to the stage it did but as players we needed to do it because there is so much uncertainty in the game,’ said Owens.
‘But it was put to bed on Wednesday and what is done is done. Now we need to focus on the rugby.’
Wales players have been engaged in talks with the country’s governing body, the WRU, led by chief executive Nigel Walker
The players will emerge into a cacophony of noise in Cardiff on Saturday night after tumultuous week
Wales flanker Justin Tipuric sat out Friday’s captain’s run session to manage his training load but will still start against England.
‘We need a win to get the pride back in the shirt after two defeats,’ said Owens, who revealed that he agreed with his head coach Gatland that past Welsh successes had papered over the cracks of the country’s previous rugby problems. ‘It’s trying to finish this saga on a positive.
‘We have had a lot of crisis in Welsh rugby over the last 10 or 12 years at different points and it has almost been the national squad that has delivered to cover them.
‘If the national squad weren’t winning, this would probably have come to a head a lot sooner.’
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