Owens has been confirmed as one of the 23 match officials selected to take charge of the 48 matches at Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan, which runs from September 20-November 2.
The Welsh official is the current world record holder for most Test matches refereed (87) and alongside England’s Wayne Barnes, is selected for his fourth consecutive Rugby World Cup as a referee.
“It’s a huge privilege and honour to be appointed and to referee in what is a massive tournament that the Rugby World Cup has now become,” said Owens.
“This will be my fourth World Cup and I’m still excited about it as much as I was for the first one. It’s great to see how much it has grown since my first involvement in actually officiating in it since 2007, and how much it has grown since then as a truly global game and tournament.
“I’m excited going into my fourth one which will be my last one, so it’s a great honour.”
Owens speaks from personal experience when he says the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan is going to be ‘something special.’
“I actually did my first [Tier 1] Test match in 2005 between Japan and Ireland in Osaka and I was there last year as well officiating Japan against Georgia.
“I was there for three weeks and it’s a great country – they’ll be very passionate about it [the World Cup] and they are very supportive of rugby as a sport, particularly when their team is playing well. I know how much it means to them as a country and I think it will be a wonderful experience.
“It will be different in many ways as well but it will be very special I believe. I’ve heard a lot of people who have never been to Japan before and people who haven’t been to a World Cup, saying how excited they are and they are going to go to Japan because it is something different and something special.”
