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Lane rediscovering form and fitness after Benetton brace

First Team News | 19th February 2023


Owen Lane is confident that he's returning back to form and fitness following his two-try performance in Cardiff's bonus point win over Benetton on Saturday.

The wing was sidelined for the early stages of the season due to an ankle injury, but has scored six tries in seven games since his return to action in December.

Lane, who wore the socks of his booyhood club Rhiwbina on Saturday, has now moved to 40 tries for the Blue and Blacks and was pleased to see his brace contributing to the team's winning efforts.

"I was happy. It’s been a disjointed season with the niggles and the ankle injury. I haven’t been able to get a good run of games and find a good run of form," explained the Welsh international.

"Hopefully that’s starting to happen. I’m feeling ok body wise at the moment and it was nice to be out there.

"I’m starting to have a good run of games and a bit of momentum now, and hopefully we can keep that going, both personally and as a collective.

"It’s always nice to cross the line as a wing. Ultimately your main job is to work hard and try and get over the finish line and get a few tries for the team.

The first one was a set-piece move we planned in training, and everyone did their roles, and I was the lucky one on the end of it.

It was nice to see all the youngsters coming out to support. It was a good initiative by the Community team and it was nice to see all of the different clubs.

We were representing our own clubs with the socks, and it was a good crowd.

Hopefully we can continue that moving forward and we can keep putting in good performances for them.

 

We knew the wind was going to play a factor in the second half, so we talked about keeping the ball tight and trying to kick as much as we could. 

It was difficult in the and we said all week that it was going to be a big battle aerially.

In the first half it was challenging. Even with the wind behind us it was tricky in the air. So we thought we’d put pressure on them and try to target their back three a little bit.

We did that, but probably didn’t do it as much as we said after the break. It opened up a bit, which you’d expect from the second half of a game.

We managed to control the game well and see it out. So yes, we’re happy.

The Christmas derbies weren’t really successful for us. We didn’t perform well and the results didn’t go our way, which we deserved off the back of our performance.

So we said that we needed to start this game big. When we do that, we’ll probably come out on the good side of the result.

We started well but also managed to keep the momentum going forward. 

In terms of the play-off race, this was a key game and a key win for us. The bonus point win was in the back of our minds.

In the last few moments, it got a bit frantic but we knew that a bonus point would be big for us. 

Luckily Rey made a good defensive read, as he usually does, and we managed to capitalise. 

It’s a key result for us moving forward and hopefully that can build a bit of momentum in our season.

 

Lane also paid tribute to scrum half Lloyd Williams, who broke the club's appearance record in the professional era: "I said in an interview during the week that it feels like we’re celebrating a milestone for Lloydy every other game at the moment!

"But it’s testament to his character both on and off the field. He’s a consummate professional, he’s good with the youngsters and he’s a big voice in our changing room.

"The way he handles himself on and off the field is something we can all look up to and that shows on the pitch. To play at the level he has for as long as he has, and play that many games, is incredible.

"I know I won’t be doing that! So yes, it’s a good achievement and we did mention in the week about trying to get a win for him and celebrate the achievement with a win. I’m glad we could do that."