Rugby World Cup: Ken Owens released from squad due to injury as Warren Gatland reveals team changes

Wales have suffered a hammer blow as hooker Ken Owens has been released from the Rugby World Cup squad due to a back injury.

Head coach Warren Gatland addressed the media during a press conference on Monday ahead of the squad travelling to a training camp in Switzerland.

The news follows a series of high-profile departures from the Welsh squad, including Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric, Rhys Carre, Cory Hill and Ross Moriarty.

Many had tipped Owens as Wales' captain for the World Cup in September as he led the team during their most recent Six Nations campaign.

Addressing the injury, Warren Gatland said: "Ken hasn't trained at all with us. His back hasn't recovered.

"He wanted to reiterate that he hasn't retired from rugby and he's hoping that he might be potentially available maybe later if we pick up injuries later in the tournament"

"It's the same injury but not as severe as before so he may need an operation on that. He's just getting pain in his calf and can't run fully.

"He's really disappointed. He's been a great servant for Welsh rugby but we've got some real strength in depth in that squad with the other hookers with them pushing themselves."

"We've brought Sam Parry into the squad for cover for Ken so we're back up to four hookers at the moment.

"There's some strong competition from Dewi Lake and Ryan Elias has come back from injury and taken a full part in training with Elliot Dee and Sam (Parry)."

During the press conference, one thing Gatland did consider was the possibility of co-captains at the World Cup.

He said: "I don't think there's any guaranteed starting positions and players in the squad will get their opportunities throughout the round of games and co-captains is maybe something we'll look at. We did that with Ellis Jenkins and Corry Hill in Argentina in 2018 and it went well.

"We probably won't make a final decision on the captain or captains until we name the squad."

Despite the blow to the squad Gatland remained upbeat during the press conference.

He said: "There was a group of players that were coming to the end of it in 2010 and we made those changes, brought those youngsters in and they made such and impact, such an impression and they were brilliant.

"There has been a lot of negativity about rugby in Wales. We'd like to sort of change the narrative a little bit and try and get as much positivity as possible. That has a huge psychological impact on the players in terms of trying to send those messages.

"I spoke to the players today and said as a nation we should be proud of what we've achieved in the past and we've punched massively above our weight. We're the smallest nation in terms of tier one nations in terms of numbers and stuff.

"I'll put my hand up and say that the Six Nations wasn't good enough in terms of our expectations but I'm really excited about this group of players at the moment and the work that they're putting in.

"Let's put the last six months or so behind us and start looking forward about what this team's potentially capable of doing."

On top of injury to Owens, Owen Williams and Alex Cuthbert won’t travel to Switzerland for personal reasons but are expected to attend the later training camp in Turkey. Taulupe Faletau will travel out to Switzerland for the second week of the training camp as he is managing a calf injury and helping at home following the recent birth of his third child.