Ken Owens is backing the strength of shared experience to prove the decisive factor in Wales’ favour when they meet France in Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final.
The Wales hooker made his Test debut at the 2011 World Cup and is now one of the most experienced players in the squad that will be bidding for a place in the last four in Oita.
Owens was a wide-eyed youngster back then and back-up to current Wales conditioning coach Huw Bennett, but the Scarlets captain has since gone on to pass Bennett’s half century mark of appearances and will earn his 71st Wales cap on Sunday.
More crucially, he believes, he is part of a Wales team that has also come of age in recent seasons – competing in and regularly winning big matches which before may have slipped through their fingers.
“Everybody is pretty comfortable with their role in the squad, both on and off the field,” says Owens.
“We have had a good continuity in the squad over the last two years, which helps galvanise us.
“We know exactly what we are trying to achieve and where we are trying to get to. To be fair, the management prepare us well, and there is no stone left unturned. There is experience right across the squad now in big games.
“Liam (Wales full-back Williams) has been successful in England, a lot of players have played in big games for their clubs.
“And because we have had a lot of continuity in selection across the squad, the more you play in the big games the more you get used to them, the build-up and what is expected and how to deliver.”
It will be Wales’ third successive last-eight appearance under head coach Warren Gatland, while they have beaten France in seven of the last eight meetings.
If they reach the semi-finals, then an appointment with South Africa could loom, and they have lost five out of six against Wales since 2014.
Throw in a 14-game unbeaten run between March 2018 and this summer, that included defeating Australia, winning two games in Argentina and toppling Ireland to claim a Six Nations Grand Slam, and Wales now regularly get it right in high-stakes matches.
“I think it is the confidence we have got in each other,” adds Owens.
Gatland will name his team for the quarter-final on Friday, with centre Jonathan Davies, wing George North and fly-half Dan Biggar all likely to feature after recovering from recent knocks.
And Wales will start as favourites, especially given recent history between the countries.
“We take confidence, but the last eight games we have played against them there has only been a score or so in it. They have been tough matches, as they always are.
“We will take confidence from what we have achieved over the last two years and where we are as a squad, but there is confidence – it’s not arrogance – as we know how good a team the French are, as they have proved against us in the past.
“It’s the World Cup quarter-final. As a player, you only get the chance to play in it once every four years, and that’s only if you you are extremely lucky and extremely well-prepared.
“For us, it’s another game – granted, a massive game – but we have worked really hard for this and we are just looking forward to the opportunity of playing in a World Cup quarter-final against a tough side like France.
“It is about thinking about ourselves and making sure we put in an 80-minute performance, because we haven’t done that yet in this tournament.
“I think the French will be looking to put in an 80-minute performance themselves, and we are looking to do that as well because we know how dangerous the French can be.”
Owens’ teammate Josh Navidi is a far more recent addition to the Wales starting line-up and is likely to keep his starting spot ahead of rival No.8 Ross Moriarty.
The Cardiff Blues forward is keen to make another big impression at the breakdown, where he has excelled for Wales in this tournament – if only to stay on the right side of defence coach Shaun Edwards.
Navidi says: “Defensively, Shaun knows what he wants and if you don’t do what he wants you get screamed at. Defensively and around the contact area, he has a big focus on that, and he has helped me quite a bit.
“He is quite calm at the moment but does have times when he goes off on one. It’s quite funny.”
Navidi is confident Wales, ranked No.2 in the world, can live up to their favourites tag and see off France, ranked six places below them.
“Being No.2 is nice recognition but it will mean nothing if we don’t win on the weekend,” he said. “There is no danger of us being over-confident.
“We’re not being big-headed or anything, but we’re in a good place and it’s about delivering.
“We know each other well and we’ve been together for a long, long time now. Things are coming thick and fast, but they’re coming along nicely.”