Owen insists Wales will bounce back

Wales were held to a 18-18 draw in Cardiff by Italy who claimed their first point in the RBS Six Nations Championship outside of Rome. Now Owen’s side must prepare themselves to take on a France side intent on taking their title on Saturday at the Millennium Stadium. The Wales skipper said his team would be up for the challenge.

“Obviously we are all disappointed because we know it was a game that was there to be won but we didn’t take our chances,” said Owen. “We will pick ourselves up and go for it next weekend. There is nothing we can do about the result now, it’s gone and we move on.

“We picked ourselves up after the England and Ireland games (both defeats) and we will do the same again for this weekend.”

Wales had led 15-5 midway through the first half following tries by Mark Jones and Stephen Jones only to open the door for an Italian comeback with an error-strewn display.

“I thought the first half was very good. We didn’t take our chances but I still couldn’t believe we went in at half-time at 15-15. We never really got going in the second half. Our handling was disappointing and we probably got what we deserved, but we’ve just got to get on with it.”