Owens Eyeing World Cup Berth

Wales hooker Ken Owens is eyeing a starting role for the national side at the World Cup in Japan this autumn.

The 32-year-old is Wales’ most capped hooker, having turned out on 64 occasions for the Dragons, but he has never managed to earn a starting berth at a World Cup.

Owens was the third-choice hooker at the 2011 World Cup after returning from serious injury and he suffered a similar fate at the 2015 edition.

The Scarlets star, who can also play at Number 8, linked up with the national side at their two-week training camp in Switzerland this week and is expected to make the final cut.

“Hopefully I’ll get an opportunity to go to this World Cup and get a start,” said Owens. “Going into 2011 I’d come off a serious injury and because a couple of other boys had injuries too I made the squad – and I was chuffed to get my first cap at that World Cup.

“In 2015 it was pretty much the same. I’d had about eight or nine months out with my neck again. “Scott had a great tournament and my role was to bring an impact off the bench, which I enjoyed.

“You make your own luck and player’s roles change in different squads. Hopefully I can stay fit and prove myself to the squad. It would be huge to make a third World Cup.”