The west Wales region finished as the leading Welsh side in the tournament last season, but could only manage an agonising fifth place. That was good enough to claim the only Welsh spot in the Champions Cup, but left them outside the end of season showpiece.
They started with a bang, winning their opening six matches and eight of their first nine, but fatally fell away in the closing stretch. They lost three of their last four games and were beaten 31-15 by this season’s opening opponents, Munster, in the final round of fixtures.
“There doesn’t seem to be many easy games or the chance to feel your way into the league at all these days. That’s how it is and it means you get t play big teams like Munster early on,” said Owens about Saturday’s opening fixture at Parc y Scarlets.
“They can make or break your season in the first month. We did well at the start of last season, starting very strongly, and we are going to have to do that again this season.
“We were in the top four for the majority of the season, but we missed out on bonus points because didn’t score enough tries. We’re going to have to address that and I’m sure that if the forwards can win enough possession we’ve got a backline that’s more than capable of producing tries for us.”
It has been a tough build-up to the start of the new PRO12 campaign with defeats at the hands of Aviva Premiership clubs Exeter Chiefs (45-3) and Bath (32-17) and Owens will have to pack down against Munster without the assistance of international props Rob Evans and Samson Lee, both of who are currently out of action.
But with the arrival of Rhys Patchell, the return of Jonathan Davies and Liam Williams and Scott Williams both now fully fit, the Scarlets have a back line full of attacking intent. It is a situation that head coach Wayne Pivac is hoping will have a big difference this season.
“Hadleigh Parkes had a terrific season for us, but he had to play every minute of every game. It was a credit to him that he was able to look after himself and his recovery for his entire season,” said Pivac.
“Having Jonathan Davies back gives us three top players to cover those two positions, plus the likes of Gareth Owen and Steff Hughes, so we’re blessed in that position. It’s nice to have the combinations to choose from.
“We’re going to be using lots of different players for parts of the season, but to have three players to choose from is a great place to be in. You don’t have to be pushing people out there with a bit of a niggle.
“We might have one of the best back-lines in Europe, but it’s not by accident. We’ve put in a lot of hard work from people behind the scenes to make it happen and we’re very pleased to have that back line, on paper at least.”
