WALES hooker Ken Owens – the man they call ‘The Sheriff’ – is ready for a high noon showdown with the ferocious French front row in Saturday’s Grand Slam decider, writes Iwan Davies.

But the Scarlets hooker faces a big battle to start in this weekend’s match as he and regional teammate Matthew Rees go head-to-head for the No 2 shirt.

Owens will soon find out if his outstanding 80-minute performance during Wales’ Triple Crown triumph against England will be enough to give him the edge, the team announced this afternoon.

And the 25-year-old is under no illusion as to how tough it will be to take on France’s grizzly forwards but added Wales have the perfect weapon to counter the highly rated tighthead prop Nicolas Mas in his counterpart Adam Jones.

“France have always got a formidable pack throughout history so it’s going to be a tough challenge for us,” Owens said.

“But I think we’ve gone well as a forward unit over the course of the Six Nations.

“Mas is a very disruptive scrummager. He has got some traits and trademarks to his game. And if you let him exploit them, he’s pretty strong and if he gets on top of you, it’s a long day at the office.

“I think England (during their 24-22 victory over France in Paris on Sunday) were quite successful at times against him. So we’ll be looking at different kinds of angles to counteract his threat and what he’s going to provide.”

Owens added: “The scrum is going to be huge because it provides a platform and they’ve got very talented backs who are powerful and fast – they’ve got it all.

“Unless their forwards provide the ball to them, they can’t work. Every game starts up front and Adam’s a phenomenal player and has been for the last decade.

“He has been outstanding in this campaign so far.”

As well as being nicknamed ‘The Sheriff’, Owens has also attracted the moniker ‘Cannonball Ken’ because of his ability with the ball in hand, as he explained: “Cannonball Ken started when I was about 19. It’s Bradley Davies’ (Wales lock) fault and it’s become a Cardiff Blues thing, with Warby (Wales captain Sam Warburton), Bradley and a few others calling me it. Down West, I’m ‘The Sheriff’. The boys call me it because I’m from Carmarthen, a small town, and my grandfather was the mayor and my grandmother was the mayoress.”