JAMES LOWE HASN’T been following all of his own advice.
In the exhilaration of scoring a try at Twickenham last weekend – that score part of a performance that must have felt like redemption for him away to England – the Ireland left wing strayed from the basics.
“I was thinking for the try that I should have run under the posts, for one,” said Lowe after the game.
“I also should have put the ball down with two hands. That’s what I always tell every kid, to put the ball down with two hands!
“But it was awesome. We’ve been working on our interplay the whole time we’ve been together. I think Sheeno [Dan Sheehan] threw an inside ball to Josh [van der Flier] and Josh went through a hole, he faked to go inside but went on the outside and I was lucky to be on the end of it. I didn’t do too much.
“It was an awesome start in a tough environment and then we put ourselves under pressure, we gave them a few piggybacks up the field, it felt like we kept them in the game.
“And credit to them, they took their opportunities and it felt like we played all the rugby and it was 15-all and it was just like, ‘how did that happen?’.
“That’s credit to them, they’re a fantastic side. We were happy to finally break them down.”
Lowe was one of the big factors in Ireland finishing over the top of England. His powerful running and kicking were prominent once again as he continued his good form in the number 11 jersey.
England got plenty of momentum during the game as their scrum made a big impact, but Lowe insists that Ireland were never panicky in the second half even as the hosts drew back to 15-15.
“Mate, our captain [Johnny Sexton] is 40-years-old, Pete [O'Mahony] is in his late 30s as well I think,” said Lowe with a smile, knowing that Sexton is actually 36 and O’Mahony is 32.
“You’ve got experience coming off the bench in Conor Murray. I think we had four Lions on the bench, maybe five, there’s no need to be panicky when you know those boys are coming on.”
And the less experienced members of the team were crucial too, particularly Hugo Keenan at fullback. The number 15 had to deal with an aerial bombardment from the English in the second half but managed it with characteristic composure.
“He’s got an old head on him,” said Lowe. “We call him Vanilla Hugo because he’s so plain but he’s a great dude, man.
“His attention to detail… playing with him, it takes a lot of the pressure off myself and Bomber [Andrew Conway] because he does a lot of the monotonous, boring stuff throughout the week to provide for us. He looks at all the kicking clips, the kickers.
“He looks at their kick-offs so when it comes back, where will we attack, who they kick off, who chases, who’s in the backfield. He does a lot of that sort of stuff and then he just tells me what to do and hopefully it comes off.”
Ireland are still in the Six Nations title hunt heading into the final weekend. Lowe and co. are hoping England can do them a favour by beating France in Paris, but they must do a good job against Scotland before that.
“We’ll do our job, I hope they do theirs,” said Lowe. “Man, like, who knows what could happen. The beast France is at home, it’s going to be a tough feat. But England are licking their wounds, they’re not going to go in half-cocked.
“If they can do the job over there, fair play, we couldn’t do it, and then it opens it up for us. We’ll see how that goes anyway. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”
Lowe’s family won’t be able to make it over from New Zealand for Super Saturday but he’s hoping for a special occasion.
“I would love to get my family over but unfortunately it’s a bit tough at the moment – I know the world is opening up. I’m hoping to tour New Zealand so they get to watch me play over there.
“But my fiancée’s mother is over at the moment so they’ll be there supporting and there’s a possibility of winning a trophy on Irish soil.
“Apparently, we don’t do it often, you win Grand Slams away and trophies away. It’s something we’re obviously very excited for but the challenge is Scotland, the challenge isn’t trophy-focused. We know what we need to do and we’re going to treat it like another Test match.”
Ireland internationals Devin Toner and Lindsay Peat were our guests for The Front Row’s special live event, in partnership with Guinness, this week. The panel chats through Ireland’s championship chances ahead of the final round of Guinness Six Nations matches, and members of the Emerald Warriors – Ireland’s first LGBT+ inclusive rugby team – also join us to talk about breaking down barriers in rugby. Click here to subscribe or listen below:
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