George is undervalued massively says Owens
KEN OWENS says George North’s contribution in the red jersey has been under-appreciated in recent years as the giant wing targets his 100th Wales cap in Saturday’s showdown with England.
North, 28, has 42 tries in 99 Tests for his country and has been a superstar at international level for more than a decade since his stunning, two-try 2010 debut against South Africa aged just 18.
It hasn’t stopped the wing – now often seen at centre for Wales – from facing plenty of doubters over the course of his career, but increasingly so in the last two years.
North was last week given the green light to return to full training with Wales after missing their Six Nations win over Scotland with a foot injury.
Jonathan Davies, Josh Navidi, Johnny Williams and Josh Adams are also all set to be back available for England, leaving Wales’ head coach Wayne Pivac with a selection headache.
Owens believes North is back to playing his best rugby as he reaches the big career milestone. “George has been a great player for Wales,” said Wales hooker Owens, right.
“Now he’s doing the business for the Ospreys after Scarlets and Northampton and it’s great to see him getting right back to the top of his game this season.
“He’s a quality player and like all of us, is always willing to learn and wants to get better. He’s adapting and moved into the centre where he’s doing a job.
“He’s taken a fair bit of stick over the last few years which wasn’t fair because he is always doing things people don’t recognise like leading the defensive line.
“I think he’s been a quality player throughout. He might have had quieter periods or not got as many tries as in the early part of his career, but what he brings to this side is undervalued massively.
“For us playing with him week in, week out, we see his energy, work rate, and organisation that perhaps goes unnoticed.” Wales will go into their crunch meeting with England with a level of confidence not seen previously under the Pivac regime.
Pivac had a tough 2020 after succeeding Warren Gatland, but back-to-back victories over 14-man Ireland and Scotland have helped him turn a corner. Wales will face England for a Triple Crown in Cardiff and victory would keep Pivac’s men on course for a shock Grand Slam. Eddie Jones’ Red Rose outfit will be out to spoil the party. Owens added: “We’ve gone under the radar for the first two weeks, no one really expected anything from us coming into the competition this year. “England will be disappointed with losing that game narrowly against Scotland first off, then they got a good win against Italy and are on the way up. “They’ll be happy to have had the week off to get some hard graft in to come down to Cardiff and hit the ground running. For us, we have two wins, but a lot of stuff to improve on. It’s all about momentum now.”
Gatland might have gone, but there are similarities with his last Grand Slam in 2019 and this Wales campaign. Two years ago, Wales beat France and Italy in their first two games.
Like they have been in 2021 so far, they were rusty to start with, but then in round three they blew the roof of Principality Stadium with a stunning win over England and a clean sweep followed. England are again the round three opponents in Cardiff.
“Everyone was really frustrated with the autumn,” said Owens, who has returned to Test rugby seamlessly since a shoulder injury ruled him out of the Nations Cup.
Scarlets ace Owens has also helped Wales steady their lineout troubles and added: “There was a lot of hard work put in during the autumn which was not quite translated on to the field.
“The biggest thing which came from it is the opportunity some boys had. We had a lot of injuries for Scotland, but boys came in and they’re much better for having that exposure in the autumn.
“They can now step up straight away. Things are continuously being worked on like cohesiveness defensively and, forwards-wise, nailing the set-piece.
“There have been steady improvements in both those areas in this campaign and attackin-wise we’ve been a lot better even though we can get a lot better still.”