Owens was appointed to his first play-off/knock-out rugby match on 23 April 2006, when he refereed the 2005-06 European Challenge Cup semi-final between Newcastle Falcons and London Irish.
Owens refereed in all six rounds of the 2007-08 Heineken Cup pool stage and was appointed to a quarter-final, semi-final and the final, becoming the third Welsh referee to referee a Heineken Cup final [REF].