Owens hoping to make lifelong Lions friends

Wales hooker Ken Owens was clearly left impressed by the British and Irish Lions kit haul after attending Monday's meet-up in London.

The Scarlets captain and the rest of the Lions' 41-man squad were on hand at the Syon Park Hotel to collect their kit ahead of next month's tour.

And for Owens, the supply of clothing should last him for much longer than just the six weeks in New Zealand.

"There are two very, very big kit bags. There are nine sets of training kits, 15 training vests and all sorts. There are two suits, shirts, shoes, the lot," Owens told the Welsh Rugby Union website.

"It's actually more than I've got in my house so I've got my clothes sorted for the next 10 years!"

The 30-year-old added that he hoped the six-week tour would help to forge a number of friendships with players from outside of the Wales camp.

"I know the quality of the Irish and Scottish players very well from the PRO12," he added.

"With the way the professional game is now you don't often get the chance to socialise together as much as you did in the years gone by. It's great to get the chance to be on the same side as them now and hopefully I'll make some lifelong friends.

"We all want to go to New Zealand and put a marker down to try and win the Test series. That's why the 41-man squad is here."

Owens was tipped to make the squad before the announcement last month but wanted to avoid the speculation in the days beforehand, spending some time in a part of Wales with little phone reception.

"I was pretty nervous before the squad announcement because there had been a lot of talk and a lot of hype in the months leading up to it – and rightly so.

"It was a nervous time, I locked myself away and went on holiday for a week. I hired a campervan and went down to west Wales where there wasn't much phone signal.

"I found a nice pub and watched the team announcement there with my wife and child.

"As soon as the selection come out my focus turned back to club duty. But meeting up with the boys for the first time today, getting the kit and putting it on showed that it's not a dream.

"Now it's becoming closer to a reality. We're three or four weeks away from a huge tour of New Zealand."