Owens ready for tough Blues clash

Editor

Scarlets captain Ken Owens believes it’s going to be a confrontational encounter when his side hosts Cardiff Blues.

After going down to two defeats to the Blues in 2015-16 the Scarlets turned fortunes around at the end of October securing a try-bonus victory at Cardiff Arms Park.

Danny Wilson’s Cardiff Blues will be keen to reverse the 15-26 defeat on Sunday whilst Wayne Pivac’s men will be just as keen to bounce back from the disappointing defeat to the Ospreys on Tuesday and keep the home winning momentum alive.

Multiple penalties, and three yellow cards, added to Scarlets’ woes at the Liberty Stadium and Owens believes the side will have to improve their discipline to get a result at the Parc.

“We let ourselves down [against the Ospreys]. We gave away too many penalties and you’re never going to secure a victory with three yellow cards,” Owens told the Scarlets website.

“Our discipline wasn’t good enough. We have to improve on that. The intensity was there and we turned up defensively.

“We have to get back on the horse, keep believing and get the points from another derby.”

Looking ahead to the New Year’s Day PRO12 clash he continued; “We’ve bounced back well, after a disappointing start to the season, and we’ve built momentum. We’ve put ourselves in a good position in the last few weeks to keep in touch with the top four.

“We’ve got to front up again on New Year’s Day and put a shift in again and get back in that winning groove.

“I think it’s going to be very confrontational, they have a very good attacking game. Every time we play the Blues it’s a fast, open, running game. That’s what we like to play, that’s also what they like to play. It’s who’s on the money defensively on the day.”