Ken Owens will miss the World Cup due to injury; the tournament in France takes place from September 8 to October 28; Wales will take on Australia, Fiji, Georgia and Portugal in their pool as they look to cause a surprise after a difficult 18 months
Last Updated: 26/06/23 3:55pm
Ken Owens will miss this year’s World Cup
Wales captain Ken Owens has been ruled out of the World Cup due to a back injury.
Owens has been released from the training squad along with Scarlets team-mate Josh Macleod, who has a shoulder problem.
Since the preliminary squad was revealed at the start of May, Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric and Rhys Webb all announced their retirement from international rugby.
“Ken didn’t train at all with us [in recent weeks], his back has not recovered,” head coach Warren Gatland said.
“He has not been able to do any of the training. It is the same injury but not as severe as before so he may need an operation on that.
“He wanted to reiterate he has not retired from rugby and he is hoping potentially he could be available later if we pick up injuries in the tournament.”
Owens is sidelined with a back injury
Co-captaincy a possibility for Wales
Owens captained Wales at the Six Nations earlier this year but will not participate in a fourth World Cup.
Gatland says it is possible the 36-year-old could feature in the latter stages of the tournament, if there was an injury at hooker, but he will not be named in the 33-player squad at the end of August …