Ken Owens: Wales captain Owens dashed to baby's birth before France game
- Published
Hooker Ken Owens has played 90 internationals for Wales
Six Nations: France v Wales |
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Venue: Stade de France, Paris Date: Saturday, 18 March Kick-off: 14:45 GMT |
Coverage: Live on S4C, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, the BBC Sport website & app; live text commentary on BBC Sport website & app. |
Captain Ken Owens says he has had a busy week after returning to Wales from France for the birth of his baby.
Owens left the training camp in Nice on Tuesday evening to attend the arrival of his second child before flying back into Paris on Friday.
The 36-year-old Scarlets hooker led Wales in the Six Nations 41-28 defeat against France after securing his first win as captain against Italy.
"I was proud of my wife Carys and becoming a father again," said Owens.
"Everything went OK and I am back to the family tomorrow.
"It has been an interesting week. I had to leave the boys on Tuesday night.
"Then I was flying back, it's been challenging so obviously I haven't trained much this week.
"That's probably why I was hooked on 45 minutes. You can be overdone sometimes, but I was definitely underdone."
Owens had endured a difficult first campaign as captain having to lead the squad from the front during uncertainty off the field following a dispute with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) over player contracts.
Wales squad players considered striking for the home match against England on 25 February, with the threat only withdrawn three days before the game.
Wales 'will raise some eyebrows' at the 2023 World Cup says captain Ken Owens
A 29-17 victory over Italy followed before the busy final week leading into the match in the Stade de France.
"It'll make for interesting reading in my book!" said Owens.
On the France defeat, Owens added: "I was just proud of the players' efforts all campaign.
"We spoke about showing character and having a special occasion for Taulupe Faletau's 100th game, Dillon Lewis's 50th and some of our management are leaving after this game as well.
"It's a special moment and we tried to create even more memories on that for them as well.
"It was a frustrating performance at times because of soft inaccuracies and gifting them opportunities.
"We knew we had to score tries and we showed that. We just need to keep building as a squad and keeping heading toward the World Cup.
"I'm confident we will get better the more time we have together with that conditioning work and putting ourselves under pressure in training.
"That will solve those inaccuracies in our game that we've seen throughout the tournament."
Wales head coach Warren Gatland says the France defeat in Paris represented the last Six Nations game for up to eight players in the 23-man squad.
Owens, 36, admitted that could be the case.
"Personally for me and a lot of the boys, it probably will be our last Six Nations game," said Owens.
"It's got to come at some point. I am just proud to have led the team out, a team that showed massive character and heart. They put pride into the Welsh jersey."