With the Scarlets in a scrap to reach Guinness PRO12’s top six and qualify for the European Rugby Champions Cup next season Owens has admitted that he has been feeling the pressure and weight of responsibility as the Region’s the captain.
The Scarlets have been in the top-flight of European rugby since its inception and are still in the race for top six, with a bonus point victory over Newport Gwent Dragons on Saturday, to qualify for next season’s competition.
Speaking after the Judgement Day victory Owens said: “It’s something I’ve had on my mind all season really, not to be the first Scarlets skipper not to make Europe. I’ve been feeling that pressure and feeling those nerves.
“Luckily the boys have been fronting up week in week out, we had a slip-up against Edinburgh but it’s in our hands now.
“We owe it to ourselves as a squad and to the region as a whole to qualify for that top tier competition. That’s what you want as rugby players and supporters is to be playing and watching against the best teams in Europe and really challenging yourselves.”
Scarlets pushed reigning European champions Toulon close in their South of France home and secured a victory over Leicester Tigers and Ulster at Parc y Scarlets in this season’s campaign. Owens went on to say: “We’ve really enjoyed challenging ourselves this year with some good results and good performances and some big crowds at Parc y Scarlets. We want to continue that next season. It’s in our hands – we have two massive games to finish off the season and we’ll hopefully be in that top tier again.”
“We’ve got two games left; home against Blues and away to Treviso. We win both and we’re top six, which is our goal at the moment. We’ve got enough quality in our side. When the pressure’s been on this year and we’ve had to perform we’ve managed to do it. We want to finish on a positive and build for next year.”
Scarlets will look to continue their home form against the Welsh Regions with a victory over Cardiff Blues on Sunday 10th May in the last home game of the season.
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