Talented starlet Aneurin Owen is looking to kick on in the new look 2021/2022 United Rugby Championship after his first international call up for Wales summer fixtures against Argentina.
Owen has made a rapid rise through the professional ranks and had a breakthrough campaign during the 2020/2021 season making 15 appearances for Dean Ryan’s men.
The 20-year-old centre was rewarded with a call up by Wales Head Coach Wayne Pivac ahead of Wales summer double header against Argentina at the Principality Stadium.
And the Newport-born back admits being involved in the national set-up was a great experience and it has motivated him further to kick on and get back there and make his international debut.
“It was a bit of a surprise to be in the Welsh squad to be honest, so I just tried to enjoy it and it was a bit of a step up but it was really enjoyable and I just learnt so much off the players and coaches there with it being a bit of a higher standard,” said the former Welsh U20 international.
“So to experience that and to experience what the players were like, what the coaches were like and to learn off them was an unbelievable experience.
“I really wasn’t expecting to be there so just to be there was a really good experience and I really enjoyed it.
“But it does give you the bug to sort of try and get there again, so that’s where all my efforts will be going into and that’s the aim going forward.”
Dean Ryan has welcomed back his international stars to pre-season this week after some time off following their summer schedule.
Owen admits it’s great to be back and see some familiar faces, whilst realising they need to ramp up their training with beginning of the season just around the corner.
“It’s not been too bad, it’s been nice to come back and see everyone again and get involved. There is so much to get better at and so much to work on that you want to get straight back into it and just crack on really.
“Hopefully I can get a starting spot and try and nail that down first, there is a lot of competition in the centre and there are some good players there so I’m definitely not guaranteed a spot.
“I will need to work hard to even start and get in the squad, then if I am lucky enough to do that then hopefully I can put my best foot forward and put some decent performances in and hopefully we can start winning as a team and start getting some results.
He continued: “The United Rugby Championship looks good and it’s exciting, it’s a new challenge and there are some great teams in there with the South African’s coming in, Irish are always strong, Scottish we have had some good games against them so it’s really exciting.
“I think everyone is just looking forward for the games to start and to get involved into it and hopefully as a club now we can start building and getting some results, because last year we probably didn’t get enough results as what we should have but hopefully we can kick on and put that right this season.”
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