Born in Carmarthen, Ken began a university course before joining Llanelli RFC to pursue his rugby career as a hooker. He made his debut for the Scarlets in 2006, the same year he won two caps for Wales Under 19s. Over the next two years Ken won further caps for the Under 20 and Under 21 sides. By 2009/10 he was being talked about as a potential international and in May 2010 was called up by the Barbarians for their match against England.
On the fringes of the full Wales squad for the next 18 months, Ken finally made his international debut at the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, coming on as a substitute in the pool match against Namibia. Later that season, Ken made his debut in the Six Nations as a substitute for Scotland before finally being selected in the starting XV in a victory against England that won the Triple Crown. He returned to a playing substitute as Wales won their next two matches against Italy and France to claim the Grand Slam.
Ken was involved in every match of the 2015 World Cup as Wales were narrowly beaten in the quarter-finals by South Africa But it was 2016 that was his breakthrough year, finally becoming first-choice hooker for the summer tour of New Zealand and subsequent autumn internationals. He would remain first-choice when fit for the rest of his career.
In 2017 Ken was called up to the British & Irish Lions squad, captaining the side in a tour match before playing in two of the three tests against New Zealand. Ken was then a key member of the Wales team that won the Grand Slam, briefly ranked World No. 1 and reached the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup in Japan, again narrowly losing out to eventual winners South Africa. In 2021 he was again selected to tour with the British & Irish Lions.
When Warren Gatland returned to coach Wales in 2023, one of his first decisions was to make Ken captain. In so doing, Ken became the principality’s oldest ever captain, aged 36. This followed seven consecutive seasons as Scarlets captain, breaking the Llanelli record previously held by the legendary Phil Bennett. Sadly, age and a career littered with serious back and neck injuries finally caught up with him and he was forced to retire 12 months later.
Away from rugby, Ken has shown a keen interest in history, using his knack of retaining fascinating facts to good effect on his “Ask Ken” slot on the Wynne Evans Show (BBC Radio Wales). Both of Ken’s maternal grandparents were previous mayors of Carmarthen and active on the local council, leading to Ken’s nickname of The Sheriff. Clearly diplomacy runs in the family as Ken worked with the players and WRU to avoid a strike ahead of the 2023 Six Nations match against England, preventing the match being called off at the 11th hour. Perhaps his family’s past could be his future and a move into politics on the cards…?
For further information about Ken Owens please contact his agent, andrew@cloud9management.co.uk