Wales captain Ken Owens admits the end is nigh for an ageing team

‘That will probably be our last Six Nations game’: Wales captain Ken Owens admits the end is nigh for an ageing team after briefly leaving camp to witness the birth of his second child before returning for France defeat

• Wales captain Ken Owens went from training camp to see his wife give birth
• He returned to Paris on Friday to feature in their final Six Nations game in France
• Owens admitted it was ‘probably’ his last game in the famous competition 

Wales captain Ken Owens admitted his crazy Six Nations would make for interesting reading in a future autobiography after he became a father for the second time ahead of facing France.

Owens returned home from the Welsh training camp in Nice on Tuesday to be with his wife Carys when she gave birth on Thursday.

He then flew back to Paris on Friday morning to take on Les Bleus.

The chaotic build-up to the game at Stade de France capped a campaign for the hooker which has seen him skipper his country for the first time. As captain, Owens also had to be the player face of the Wales squad when they threatened to strike ahead of the England game over contractual issues.

Asked how to reflect on his Six Nations, Owens said: ‘It’ll make for interesting reading in my book!

Ken Owens (R) was captain for Wales after leaving training camp to see his wife give birth

Owens featured for 45 minutes of Wales’ 41-28 defeat to France to end Six Nations campaign

‘I had to leave the boys on Tuesday night. Then I was flying back, so it’s been challenging. Obviously, I haven’t trained much this week. That’s probably why I was hooked on 45 minutes!

‘You can be overdone sometimes, but I was definitely underdone. I was proud of Carys and becoming a father again. Everything went OK. It’s back to the family [on Monday].

‘Hopefully Dwayne Peel [his head coach at Scarlets] will give me a nice little week off to enjoy with the family.’

Owens’ partner Carys said on Twitter: ‘It’s been an eventful Six Nations campaign but welcoming another member into team Owens this week has to top it off.’

Owens was substituted early in the second half against France as his team was beaten 41-28.

Owens admitted that at 36 it was probably his last Six Nations game, amid an ageing squad

It brought to an end a Welsh Six Nations which has seen four defeats from five matches on the field and chaos off it.

But the French game did see Wales show signs of promise as they scored four tries.

‘For me and a lot of the boys, that will probably be our last Six Nations game,’ said Owens, who at 36 is one of a number of elder statesmen in the Wales squad.

‘It’s got to come at some point. I’m just proud to have led the team out. They showed massive character and heart. They put pride into the Welsh jersey.’

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