Evans, 23, has started against Ireland and Scotland at the start of this year’s campaign, despite earning just three caps before the championship. The loosehead prop has shunted Wales into the ascendancy during their unbeaten start, and Owens believes Evans has the talent to prosper at the international level. He said: “He’s been outstanding to be fair to him, Rob’s developed over the last two or three years and worked on the things you have to work on to get to this level. He’s really coming through now and he’s got a massive future ahead of him.”
“Rob’s done a lot of work with Gethin Jenkins and Paul James, really listening and working on his game. He’s a lot more disciplined and a lot more intelligent in what he is doing and he’s maturing all the time. I think that’s been the big difference we’ve seen over the last 18 months to two years, He’s grown and learned from his mistakes of the past.”
Warren Gatland’s men will come up against a heavyweight French front-row when Les Blues arrive at the Principality Stadium on Friday, February 26. Tighthead prop Uini Atonio weighs in at 145kg alone, compared to Samson Lee, who tips the scales at 117kg.
Guy Noves’ men have battled to victories over Italy and Ireland so far to join England at the top of the Six Nations table. Wales currently sit third after a draw and a win, but have the chance to leapfrog France under the Friday night lights. And Owens reckons the match will be decided by the best behaved team on the night.
He said: “You have to go with your own game and keep your head focused on that. You have seen how close the majority of games have been in this championship so far. There has been a score in every game, apart from Italy and England, and discipline is huge. The team that tends to give away less penalties comes away with the victory. That has been a huge focus for us this campaign and going forward to the French game it will be exactly the same.”
