Wounded Tigers want payback for playoff pain
GARETH Owen is desperate for his midfield partnership with Manu Tuilagi to achieve lift-off for a Leicester side still carrying the mental scars of failing to make the play-offs for the first time since 2004.
Owen joined Tigers from the Scarlets last year and for a while he and Tuilagi caught fire, with a postNew Year surge putting the Welford Road outfit firmly into play-off contention.
However, a dislocated shoulder suffered at Saracens in late February put Owen out for the season, and when England hitman Tuilagi suffered a chest injury during March’s thrilling 16-15 over Wasps that brought his campaign to an end, Leicester’s challenge quickly subsided.
Owen said: “It was a massive disappointment at the end of last season after putting ourselves in with a chance of the top four. We weren’t consistent enough, weren’t ruthless enough and not getting as many try-bonus points as we should cost us in the end.
“The biggest goal for us is to get over the try-line a lot more and I think you’ll see a very different, very determined Leicester side emerging from that.
“Personally, it was very frustrating at the end. I’d worked hard to get into the team and was getting quite a lot of love from Matty O’Connor and getting a lot of game time, so to pick up that injury when I did and miss the run-in when we’d been playing well was doubly annoying.
“But I had the all-clear six weeks ago and it makes such a difference having a full pre-season and I’m determined to make a big impact from the start.”
Of rekindling his partnership with Tuilagi, Owen added: “Manu’s been firing on all cylinders in training and, like me, he’s just busting to get back out there now.
“When we did play together last season it went pretty well and he just needs to play games now. Physically, he’s in excellent shape and having not played that much rugby over the last two or three years, there’s so much more to come if he can just avoid those niggles.
“The desire to do well next season is deeper than ever. We all felt the pain of missing the play-offs and Manu’s no different in that respect. He’s got great skills, is looking strong and will make an impact.”
Owen, meanwhile, has been casting a keen eye to Wales, where his former coach at Scarlets, Wayne Pivac, has been appointed as the new national coach from 2019.
Owen describes the Kiwi as a “good manager of men” who will unite the players and unleash a brand of exciting, ‘Scarletsstyle’ running rugby that offers the best chance of winning a World Cup.
Proud Welshman Owen said: “I worked with Wayne for three years and he’s got good philosophies on rugby. He works hard on things off the field as well as on it, just making guys happy, and you can see that in how the Scarlets play, with guys having freedom to throw the ball around and enjoy it.
“If they make mistakes they just get on and deal with it positively.
“Wayne’s a good guy who creates a very positive environment and you can see that in the way the Scarlets boys will do anything for each other. He is a good manager of men.
“He’s got a very good coaching staff around him and I’d be quite surprised if Stephen Jones and Byron Hayward didn’t have an input into Wales with him. They’re both very intelligent guys who I can’t speak highly enough of from my time at Scarlets.”
Owen added: “They’ve gone back to the way the Scarlets played 15-20 years ago with a great brand of rugby fans love to watch and I hope he’ll carry that on with Wales.
“Wales seem to be throwing the ball around a bit more of late, which they probably need to do a bit more of if they’re to get themselves over the line in World Cups.
“With so many Scarlets boys involved I think it will be a seamless transition for Wayne next year and I can see Wales achieving a lot of success from imposing a high-tempo, high-paced game on opponents.”