Ken Owens opens up about injury, his future in rugby and Wales' World Cup chances

Ken Owens has spoken about his battles with injury and his old team mates' chances at the Rugby World Cup, saying that "Wales needs a little bit of success".

In an exclusive interview with ITV News Wales, Owens also opened up about feeling frustrated to be missing out on Wales' World Cup effort in France next month.

The Welsh hooker was released from the World Cup squad in June after failing to recover from a back injury.

Speaking about missing out on the campaign in France, Owens said he was "a little bit frustrated with what happened."

"I was excited, looking forward to going to camp - it is what it is, it's part of the game", he said.

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

However, he was pulled out of the World Cup squad in June because of a prolonged back injury.

He has not let his absence dampen his spirits. "I'm in a good place, I'm happy, just looking forward to getting back into it", he said.

The Scarlets player was asked whether this meant the end of rugby career.

He said: "Hopefully I'm still able to keep doing it to a level that I can do the teams I play for justice.

"I enjoy it, simple as. It's not rocket science, if you enjoy something why not keep on doing it."

Turning his attention to his teammate's chances in France, Owens said: "With everything that's gone on, Wales needs a little bit of success in rugby for a whole manner of reasons."

Alluding to turmoil at the WRU, with accusations of misogyny and threats of a player strike, he added: "It'll take pressure of the powers that be that they can have people [...] talk about positive rugby stories.

"They can go back behind closed doors and sort some of these issues out that we've got and that are still in the game."

He added: "It's massively important just for the feel good factor of the nation and of Welsh rugby in general.

"Nobody in Wales is expecting much of them, nobody in Wales is expecting much of them which takes the pressure of us.

"They can go out and show what they can, show the conditioning work, the mental toughness work they've put in this summer."

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