South African full-back Brendan Owen shone for Yokohama Canon Eagles on his League One debut against unbeaten leaders Saitama Wild Knights on Sunday.
The 28-year-old has had to be patient for his top-flight bow in Japan and seized his eagerly-awaited opportunity in the round eight clash at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo.
Owen scored two tries in a frenetic game which saw Robbie Dean’s Saitama side prevail 51-36.
The Johannesburg native, who joined Yokohama Canon Eagles in August, was determined to grasp his first opportunity after being named in the starting line-up to face the top-flight pacesetters.
“We’ve had some really good results and when the team is playing well you can’t expect many changes to be made to the starting line-up,” Owen told RugbyJP post-match.
“My job was to train hard and to make sure if I got a chance to make sure I took advantage of it.”
His previous clubs include Australian sides Western Force and Perth Spirit, San Dona in Italy, Boland Cavaliers in South Africa, English outfit Jersey Reds and Premiership Rugby giants Bath Rugby.
“I think rugby is about opportunities and I’m lucky that I’ve had the opportunity to play in different parts of the world. South Africa is a difficult environment to play rugby sometimes.
“I had an opportunity to go and play in Europe and I took it and enjoyed it. Wherever you play you learn new skills on and off the pitch. The game is different everywhere, today showed how fast and exciting Japanese rugby is while in Europe it’s more intense and slower and is kick-orientated. I love this style of rugby in Japan. Now I’m really enjoying playing my rugby here.”
Owen explained why he made the move to Japan at this stage of his career.
“The rugby out here is really good; we’ve got a really good team and as you saw today Saitama has a great team. The level here is higher than a lot of people realise. If you know the game and understand then you’ll appreciate the level of the game here.”
Owen is in good company in Yokohama with compatriots Faf de Klerk and Jesse Kriel among a strong contingent of South Africans in Keisuke Sawaki’s talented squad.
“It’s great to play with them, being South African you watch the national team, and we’re like Japan, we’re a very patriotic country. It’s not just them though, there’s Billy (Harmon), Mat (Philip) and the Japanese players, we have so many good players, it’s a privilege to play with them and to be around them.”
The play-off contenders travel to Mie in round nine to play Pablo Matera and Franco Mostert’s Honda Heat.
Picture courtesy of JRLO
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