Owens was on the 12-man referee panel for the 2015 Rugby World Cup where he was appointed to three pool stage matches, including the France v Ireland clash at the Millennium Stadium, which was the first time Owens refereed an international match at the Welsh home stadium. Owens refereed two more World Cup tests, one of which was the 2015 Rugby World Cup Final between New Zealand and Australia. He became the second Welsh referee to referee a World Cup Final, after Derek Bevan took charge of the 1991 Rugby World Cup Final. Owens won the World Rugby Referee Award at the 2015 World Rugby Awards.