Ken Owens injury means Warren Gatland ponders co-captains for Wales at World Cup

Warren Gatland says Wales could have two captains at the World Cup after skipper Ken Owens was ruled out of the tournament.

Scarlets hooker Owens, capped 91 times, has failed to recover from a back injury ahead of the World Cup, which starts in September.

Gatland says it is possible 36-year-old Owens could feature in the later stages of the tournament if there was an injury at hooker, but he will not be named when the New Zealander announces his 33-man squad at the end of August.

“Ken didn’t train at all with us (in recent weeks), his back has not recovered,” head coach Gatland said.

“He has not been able to do any of the training. It is the same injury but not as severe as before so he may need an operation on that.

“He wanted to reiterate he has not retired from rugby and he is hoping potentially he could be available later if we pick up injuries in the tournament.”

Asked about Owens’ successor, Gatland added: “Co-captaincy is a possibility. We did that with Ellis Jenkins and Cory Hill in 2018 and it worked well.

“It is something I have put out there potentially as an option, it is not guaranteed we will do that.