Owens relives final Test incident
KEN Owens’ after-dinner speaking career is set up for a long time after the controversial incident in the dying moments of the third Lions Test, writes Ellis Lane.
The hooker has spoken in the greatest detail yet of the overturned penalty after he had originally been adjudged offside.
Had the penalty, which was originally awarded before a scrum was later given, and been kicked, it would have given the All Blacks a 18-15 win in the final Test and cost the Lions the series.
The 30-year-old has spoken about the incident and what happened with the All Blacks in the bar after the game.
Owens said: “It goes down well in Q&A sessions now anyway, so I’m sorted for a long time after rugby.
“We had a beer with all of the New Zealand boys after the game and no-one even said anything.
“It was just the referee’s decision and they got on with it.
“Whether they felt different, which they probably did, in their own camp. That is up to them, I can’t control that, but it is what it is and decisions are made on the field.”
Owens has admitted that he has seen the incident since the Lions tour after it was replayed on social media.
He added: “It is one of those moments, things like that do happen in the game, I haven’t tried to play it or make yards or anything like that.
“There is just a collision in the air and it bounces into my hands. They have probably got their view on it and I’ve got mine but the referee has made a decision, thankfully, it was in our favour.
“It was a long wait for me, but at such a critical point the officials took their time and didn’t jump to anything.
“You have got to trust the TMO, trust the officials and respect their decisions.”
Owens believes that Welsh players have ‘got the monkey off their back’ after beating New Zealand during the 2017 Lions series.
He said: “We have got to try and take positives from it but every game is different. But for a lot of us it is sort of a monkey off the back.
“From a Welsh perspective, we haven’t beaten New Zealand since 1953, but there are a good group of players in the squad that have got that win.”