The 35-year-old Scarlets, Wales and British & Irish Lions hooker was the turned back the clock to play his first game for Carmarthen Quins in more than a decade to test out the back injury that had kept him out of action since October 2021.
A 40-minute run out went well for him, if not for the Quins, who were beaten 24-10 by Swansea, and his performance has given him fresh hope that he can make a full time return to the professional game.
Things you love to see the 🤠 back playing rugby regardless of colours and result. Thank you @KenOwens1088 pic.twitter.com/rhmLM6nSx4
— Carmarthen Quins RFC (@CarmQuinsRFC) September 24, 2022
A bumper crowd of more than 500 turned up to see how he went and he didn’t disappoint on the field, or off it at the end when he signed dozens of autographs and posed with fans for selfies.
“It had been a while since I’d been out on the pitch, so it was great to play again after a long lay-off,” said Owens.
“I’m hugely thankful to the Quins for giving me an opportunity to play to try to get my fitness back. It was a good 40 minutes, although I was blowing a little bit.
“I feel alive again – getting hit, putting in some hits in and just being back on the field. It was great. It has been a frustrating time and I’ve been questioning whether I would be able to play again. I’ve been pretty close to making that decision at times.
“I always wanted to give myself the best opportunity to get back on the field through this process. I knew I would regret it in years to come if I didn’t do that.
“I suppose I turned the corner about three months ago when I really saw some progression. Now I hope I can put up my hand up selection with the Scarlets over the coming weeks.
“I have to take it day by day, week by week and see where it goes, I haven’t set any public targets, although I know in my head what I want to achieve and I’ve just got to keep building towards that.”
It was a tight and cagey opening half hour as both teams looked to gain the ascendancy. Defence was definitely on top in the early exchanges and Owens played his part, winning a trademark turnover 10 minutes into the action.
It took 12 minutes before he got the chance to test his back in a scrum and he came through that exercise perfectly. He hit his line-out men, despite only having had one training session with them, and hit the rucks with his usual ferocity.
After the final whistle, he gave all the youngsters who turned up to watch him play time for an autograph or selfie.
“Swansea were stronger in the second half and they have some fantastic youngsters coming through. They were tough to play against, I enjoyed the challenge and we got stuck in,” added Owens.
“My body got through it fine, no injuries, so all good there. I’m a bit banged up, just a couple of bumps and bruises which is good, but no issues to report.”
Despite the early pressure from the visitors, it was Carmarthen who opened the scoring through the boot of Steff Marshall. Both teams had spells of possession as the half petered out, but Carmarthen held on to their 3-0 lead at half time.
Swansea then turned on the pressure to take the lead early in the second half, following an excellent interception try from loose head prop Cameron Jones, who ran in from 30 metres.
Cai Evans added a penalty before tries from Wales U20 full back Iestyn Hopkins and Matthew Jenkins opened up a 24-3 lead. The Quins hit back late through a penalty try, as Ben Warren was sin-binned for the visitors.
The Quins, now coached by one of Owens’ recent understudies at Parc Y Scarlets, Marc Jones, will need to improve on this. For Owens the next step will be getting back into action with the Scarlets as he bids to prove he is fit enough and good enough to make a fourth World Cup next year.
Scorers: Carmarthen Quins: Try: Pen Try; Pen: S Marshall. Swansea: Tries: C Jones, I Hopkins, M Jenkins; Cons: C Evans 2, D Edwards; Pen: Cai Evans
