Owens reaches 200 mark

Captain Ken Owens will win his 200th cap on Saturday in the Scarlets' clash with Treviso in the PRO12.

Owens made his debut all the way back in August 2006 and has recently signed a new contract with the Welsh outfit for two more years

The 30-year-old becomes only the second player in the region's history to reach the milestone along with loosehead prop Phil John.

Reflecting on his regional debut Owens said; "It was a pre-season friendly against Northampton back in 2006, things got a little bit heated!

"It was a good experience, especially playing against a good side like Northampton. They still had the likes of Steve Thompson playing and Ben Cohen, Carlos Spencer; it was a star-studded team really.

"It was a bit of a shock playing the U19s World Cup in Dubai then coming straight into my first pre-season and a game against Northampton! That feels like a long time ago now!"

The skipper paid tribute to the club for giving him the platform to lead a successful rugby career.

"Scarlets is my home region. Since the game in Wales went regional Scarlets has been my team. I came through the Academy, started my career here and looks like I'll finish my career here too," he said.

"Not a lot of people manage to do that these days. People move away for different reasons and different opportunities but to be fair the Scarlets have given me all of the opportunities and support that I needed to do what I wanted to do in my career.

"With a young family now I want to give my son the same opportunity to grow up in a Welsh and local community like I did."