Saracens' Owen to face former club
Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:02
Michael Owen marked his Saracens debut with a try against Western Force last Friday night, as the former Wales captain looks forward to the prospect of facing his former club later this week.
Saracens travel to France to face Toulon on Wednesday and then make the trip down the M4 to face the Newport Gwent Dragons in a pre-season friendly at Rodney Parade where Owen spent five years before recently making the move to North London.
Selection for the matches have yet to be confirmed, but the former Wales and British and Irish Lions captain is excited by the prospect of running out against his old teammates.
"I've got a lot of good friends there and I really enjoyed my time at the Dragons so I am looking forward to the chance of playing at Rodney Parade," Owen admitted.
"Hopefully I'll be selected for that game because it should be a good match and I'm keen to get as much game time under my belt as possible before the start of the season," he said.
Owen scored the opening try of the 19-10 victory over Western Force as he got his first run out in Saracens colours.
"I really enjoyed it," he added.
"There are still a few things we need to work on and we've got the games this week to do that but we also showed what we are capable of on Friday. We scored a great try in the second half and the boys are really excited about how we want to play the game this season.
"Clearly, we still need to get a bit more consistentcy in our play and also making sure we retain possession a lot better, but there were lots of positives from the game to take into this week.
"It was certainly a very open game and they were very good in the contact area and that is something we are going to have to work on. But we also worked very hard defensively and it was a big improvement from the Bayonne game and that was very encouraging.
"So it was a good workout and fitness wise everyone held up well. It's always a bit different adjusting to games but the hard work we've been doing in pre-season and the effort and the players and strength and conditioning staff is paying off.
"Things are really starting to build up now. There is a lot of anticipation among the squad and while we know there is still work to do, everyone is starting to look forward to that game against Harlequins on the opening day of the season," Owen added.
With thanks to newportgwentdragons.com
