MICHAEL Owen is back in a Newport Gwent Dragons jersey, his first appearance of the season after his British Lions tour, and the timing could hardly be better.

For the Dragons have to grapple with the might of Leicester, twice European Cup winners and current Guiness Premiership leaders, in the first game in the revamped Powergen Cup competition at Rodney Parade tomorrow night.

"I can't wait to start again, but I haven't been resting, it's been hard work," said Owen after his 11-week break from playing rugby.

"Leicester are a renowned force in the European game, it's a massive challenge, but we're trying to build something special here and if we work hard and keep developing we'll be a really good team.

"There are some great players here and I'm sure if we work hard we'll get our rewards. Things are coming together and everything off the field is improving, it needs tinkering a bit but we're not far off being a good side.

"Boys like Richard Thomas and Luke Charteris are already coming through and we've got enough good players to compete with Leicester.

"They're a great side and it's a new competition. It looks like a 7,000 crowd will be watching us play Leicester, it can't get much better than that," added Owen, who first played against the English aces in the Heineken Cup as a teenager in 1999 when he was with Pontypridd.

Owen also believes it was the right decision for members of the Lions tour party to rest and keep out of rugby for the first month of the season, despite claims the Dragons wanted him back a week earlier.

"The reasons behind it were spot on and everyone involved gets the full pre-season rest which I haven't had for seven years," he said.

"Last week's story about the Dragons wanting me was nothing, they only asked the position with a few injuries. I tried to ignore it, we just got on with training but I don't think the players could decide, you couldn't really say you didn't want to play.

"So it was right to take it out of our hands, and you can't argue with Andrew Hore (Wales' fitness chief) because he is part of the reason for the transformation of Welsh rugby.

"You could see the difference when the boys went to the World Cup, and it's vital if the boys want to play in that.

"It's good that someone is looking after the players which hasn't always happened."

Owen, Wales' Grand Slam captain, can't wait for the return of New Zealand to the Millennium Stadium on November 5 after last year's desperate one point defeat.

"The Autumn internationals are going to be fantastic, they're all coming to Cardiff and it'll be brilliant to play against New Zealand again," he said.

"Last year was the best game I've ever played in and it didn't feel like we'd lost. The atmosphere was unbelievable, the best I can remember. Now everybody believes we can beat New Zealand."