Impressive Owen stakes claim for Dallaglio’s shirt

WALES No. 8 Michael Owen was singled out for praise by British & Irish Lions coaches following an impressive game in yesterday’s twenty two point victory over Taranaki.

Despite scrummaging problems which saw the Lions front row buckle under pressure from the provincial side, Owen met the intensity of the forwards battle full on and with flankers Lewis Moody and captain Martin Corry also enjoying the occasion it made for a good night for the Test hopefuls.

Lions coach Gareth Jenkins praised his fellow Welshman by saying: “What we see with Michael is that not only is he prepared to deal with the physical aspects of the game, he’s a touch player as well. He’s got this X factor and there were a couple of significant touches there where he created one opportunity and one try which he should be commended for.”

Ian McGeechan added: “He’s got parts of his play which are exceptional and different and I think you saw them tonight. We saw a very intelligent footballer and when you’re in pressure situations and you’ve got somebody who thinks like a footballer and acts like a footballer - you can deliver at crucial times, then you’ve got a major asset.”

Owen, who captained his country during the latter stages of its push towards the Grand Slam, will fly back to the UK on Sunday to be with his wife Lucy for the berth of their child safe in the knowledge he has made a major move towards a Test place. He’ll be back on Thursday having missed only one game.

Ian McGeechan insisted that his absence from the touring party would not have an adverse effect on the Welsh forward’s prospects of a place in the team for the first Test on June 25.

Lawrence Dallaglio’s broken ankle has blown test selection for the back row wide open. The Englishman was considered a shoo-in at No.8 but Owen laid down a strong claim to the shirt with an assured performance.

Corry has been touted as a No.6 and a No.8 against the All Blacks but he said yesterday that the two roles were virtually similar in the modern game.

“I don’t think there’s a huge amount of difference between the two,” Corry said. “Obviously there’s the first phase where there are differences but as soon as the game opens up a little bit I think the two positions are virtually interchangeable.”

Corry got the Lions up and running with his side’s opening try that edged the tourists into an 11-7 lead just after half-time. The Leicester forward made a dash for the corner only to be tackled by hooker Andrew Hore and as the two slid over the line the video match official was called upon as the corner flag had clearly been struck.

After lengthy deliberation, the try was given with Hore’s boots adjudged to have knocked the flag while Corry appeared to cleverly lift his feet to avoid contact with the touch line.

“Wingers know when they’ve scored. I didn’t have a clue. Did I lift my feet? I’d say it’s more to do with my awkward running stance,” he said.

Corry said he still had time to enjoy his brief captaincy of the team. Eventually. “It was a great honour and I think if you look back at games that you captained then the most important thing is how the team played.

“My only regret was that I forgot the lion as I was running out. I was so pumped up I think I ran straight past it. When we were lining up for the anthems I saw (team manager) Louise (Ramsay) there standing with it and I just thought ‘oh no’.

“I’m relieved when I get out there and the game starts,” Corry added, “because I think I make a balls up of everything else.”