Hooker Owens vows to fight fire with fire in crunch contest
England stand in way of a record 12th successive win Unbeaten top two ready to go head to head in Cardiff
Ken Owens has vowed to get stuck into England but warned Wales that Eddie Jones’s side will “teach them a lesson” unless they significantly improve from their opening two Six Nations fixtures.
Wales will be looking for a record 12th straight win when they take on England in Cardiff on Saturday, with both teams’ Grand Slam hopes on the line, but Owens insists that is far from a given.
Warren Gatland’s team are yet to produce an impressive 80-minute display after overturning an awful first-half display to beat France and then edging past Italy with a secondstring selection.
Owens missed the game against Italy but will return to Gatland’s strongest XV to face England.
“England are a quality team, but so are we,” the British and Irish Lions hooker told The Sunday Telegraph. “There will be the top two teams in the Six Nations going at it to maintain an unbeaten record. We know the job in hand. We have got two wins on the road but we need to improve.
“It’s about getting stuck into them, but if we do not improve I am sure England will come down, play as they have done over the last two games in Cardiff, and teach us a lesson.”
Wales’s 11-match winning streak is some achievement but their Six Nations form to date is nowhere near that of England, who have beaten Ireland and blown away an awful France team.
In both those games, England wing Jonny May scored within the first few minutes.
Owens said: “England will be our first game at home, so we’ll be looking forward to getting the crowd involved. We need to get the supporters behind us and make England uncomfortable, because they haven’t really been in that position in their first two games.
“You want to be on the front foot from minute one in Test rugby. England look for a fast start and to get points on the board early. They’ve spoken about how they’ve picked certain players to get those early scores. For us, it’s about getting out there, starting well and taking our opportunities.
“It’s going to be a tough 80 minutes, which most Test matches are these days, especially if you are playing against quality opposition. England are that. We are looking forward to the challenge.”
Wales are set to be without full-back Leigh Halfpenny, as he is still not yet match ready after a long battle with concussion which dates back to Nov 10. Gatland’s side have lost their past four matches against England and have not beaten them in the Six Nations since 2013.
To break that trend, Wales will have to counteract England’s brutal physicality and also negate their kicking game, which has been excellent in the championship to date.
Gatland made 10 changes for the round two game against Italy but his big guns, Owens included, will return for the England match. His marginal selection calls are at half-back. Gareth Anscombe and Dan Biggar are the playmaker options, while Gareth Davies is the favourite for the scrum-half spot, given his experience.
Wales must improve their line-out, which has been poor in the two victories so far.
“We are probably disappointed at how the line-out has gone in the first two games,” Owens acknowledged. “There are different reasons for that and we know we will be able to put it right pretty quickly.
“England will have a decent setpiece game. I have worked with Steve Borthwick and he is meticulous in his preparation.”
England coach Jones said that Cardiff ’s Principality Stadium is no fortress after his team dismantled the French, but hooker Owens hopes Wales can come out on top and seal their place in history.
“I’m sure England won’t be coming down with any fear. They’ve won on the last two occasions in Cardiff, which is great for them,” he said. “They probably enjoy coming here, but we’ve got a pretty good home record recently and hopefully it will be a good day for us.
“We haven’t talked about the record as there is no point until you’ve done it. The boys are pretty grounded. I think we’ll be judged by our results in years to come, when people start comparing this generation to the 1970s, the 1990s or whatever.
“All we can do is keep winning and if we do that, then hopefully we will be remembered as not a bad side.”