IT TOOK JAMES Lowe mere minutes to start winning Leinster fans over when he arrived from New Zealand in 2017. This was the definition of a whirlwind romance.
Everything about Lowe was a break with the status quo. His explosive power, his offloading ambition, his cool tricks and flicks, and his eccentric disposition, somehow laid-back and carefree yet utterly combative at the same time.
Those qualities have made him a star of Irish rugby.
Lowe notched his first try for Leinster only 16 minutes into his debut against Benetton, bagging a second score before the end of the game. And he hasn’t let up since, with a record-breaking total of 71 tries in 101 games.
Lowe has just one more game to improve that record, with the left wing set to bow out of Irish rugby in the URC Grand Final against the Bulls at Croke Park on Friday 19 June.
Leinster fans will surely turn out in force to will their team towards a trophy, but also to bid Lowe farewell. If he is picked, it would be no shock for the 33-year-old to sign off with a potent performance. He is a big-game player.
His exit from Irish rugby has created a whirlwind of emotions, but the one most people are mentioning is sadness. As Lowe himself has said, “not everyone gets their fairytale ending.” His was supposed to come at the 2027 World Cup with Ireland.
As recently as March, Ireland boss Andy Farrell underlined that he saw Lowe in his plans for that tournament and stated his expectation that contract negotiations would result in Lowe staying in Irish rugby.
We have simply come to expect that these deals involving active Irish internationals will get sorted.
The fact that Farrell was willing to so openly state his feelings on Lowe’s future is one indicator that there was a consensus at that stage that a contract extension would be sorted.
It’s understood that Lowe was under this impression, even if his contract was a Leinster provincial deal rather than an IRFU national contract, although the union provided a PONI [player of national interest] top-up to Lowe’s deal in recent years.
James Lowe is Leinster's record try scorer with 71 in 101 games. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
While the IRFU has distanced itself from the negotiation process with Lowe, the union and its performance director, David Humphreys, would obviously have intimate knowledge about every such conversation with a player like Lowe.
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Despite the initially positive noises, it’s understoodthat Lowe was eventually informed there would not be a contract extension for him. He is said to have been shocked at this.
However, Lowe was subsequently offered a new one-year contract to cover next season and the World Cup, but on significantly reduced terms.
It’s thought that the IRFU’s contribution via a PONI top-up was much lower than in the past, meaning that virtually all of the contract would come from Leinster’s provincial budget.
Leinster have had limited access to Lowe in recent seasons due to IRFU player management restrictions and injuries.
If he starts the URC final, as expected, it will be Lowe’s 10th Leinster appearance of the campaign. Last season, he played for Leinster 11 times. The season before, it was nine games. In the 2022/23 season, which led into the last World Cup, Lowe made seven appearances for Leinster, having been injured in the first half of that campaign.
This relative lack of availability has been of concern to Leinster. Given that there is another World Cup ahead next year and with the IRFU deciding against making a hefty contribution, Leinster seemingly did not believe that a bigger offer was the best use of their resources.
This comes at a time when Leinster are facing the new reality of having to contribute 40% to each IRFU national contract for their players. That measure kicks in this August, with the union redirecting that money into the player development pathways in Connacht, Ulster and Munster.
All of this basically means that Lowe was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
With the IRFU willing to contribute so little to the one-year Leinster extension offer for Lowe, the union was never going to cover his entire contract if he moved to one of the other provinces. It is not thought that such a switch was explored.
Happily settled in Ireland with his wife and two young children, Lowe would ideally have continued to do what he has been doing.
He was arguably the best player on the pitch for Ireland against Italy in February as he returned to the starting XV after missing out on involvement in the disappointing Six Nations opener away to France.
Lowe on his Leinster debut in 2017. Elena Barbini / INPHO
Elena Barbini / INPHO / INPHO
Lowe retained his place in the number 11 shirt for the visit to Twickenham in Round 3, but injured his groin after just 18 minutes of that stirring win over England. He had to undergo surgery on the injury and was sidelined for nearly three months. The timing couldn’t have been worse.
Tommy O’Brien (28), usually a right wing for Leinster, replaced Lowe on the left wing against England to impressive effect and then had a strong outing in the number 11 jersey against Scotland as Ireland sealed the Triple Crown.
Ulster man Robert Baloucoune (28) was a big success story for Ireland in the Six Nations, coming in on the right wing and providing immediate game-breaking impact with his speed, power, and game sense. He looks like a key man moving forward.
Mack Hansen (28) has had a difficult time with a recurring foot injury, but he will come firmly back into the mix next season and is likely to become a pivotal player again. The incumbent on the right wing before his injuries, the Connacht man can also play on the left wing or at fullback.
Ulster’s Jacob Stockdale (30) started two games on the left wing for Ireland in this year’s championship, Calvin Nash (28) featured on the right wing under Farrell in the 2024 Six Nations success, while the versatile Jimmy O’Brien (29) has come back into strong form for Leinster, and Jamie Osborne (24) can play on the wing, as well as at fullback.
Shayne Bolton (25), Zac Ward (27), and JJ Kenny (22) are among the next wave of players hoping to force their way into Farrell’s plans ahead of the World Cup.
Still, the vast majority of these players have not yet to come close to hitting the heights Lowe has. His power in contact, finishing skills, offloading, and intuitive connection with Jamison Gibson-Park have been weapons for the Irish attack.
Lowe’s left-footed kicking is very powerful, but he also has a good understanding of the strategy behind that aspect of the game, while his defensive work improved notably after a tough start in that area when he first played Test rugby.
Lowe is also a confrontational character who enjoys mixing it with opponents and never backs down from a challenge. Every team needs players who get stuck in.
So Lowe has a lot going for him, even if he is now a veteran. He will turn 34 in July, and that is relatively old for an international wing. Leinster and the IRFU have a more in-depth understanding of Lowe’s condition and possible longevity than anyone else.
That said, Ireland’s much-lauded management of its players means that many of them are able to continue performing at the highest level for longer than previously expected.
Lowe would have backed himself to put this season’s injury travails behind him and continue to perform in big games for Leinster and Ireland, including at the 2027 World Cup.
But it’s understood that the offer eventually put in front of him was well below what he saw as his market value, and that the process of how it unfolded also left Lowe very disappointed.
As such, he assessed his options elsewhere. He attracted interest from England and France, with Toulon apparently particularly keen, but it’s believed that a two-year deal with Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath in Japan was especially strong.
Springboks wing Cheslin Kolbe has just left Suntory after three seasons with the Japan Rugby League One side, who are captained by ex-All Blacks skipper Sam Cane.
Lowe confirmed his departure from Irish rugby in an emotional statement on Instagram on Tuesday. They were classy words from a player who has been a genuine star of Irish rugby.
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Lowe has been a star of Irish rugby. He will be missed
IT TOOK JAMES Lowe mere minutes to start winning Leinster fans over when he arrived from New Zealand in 2017. This was the definition of a whirlwind romance.
Everything about Lowe was a break with the status quo. His explosive power, his offloading ambition, his cool tricks and flicks, and his eccentric disposition, somehow laid-back and carefree yet utterly combative at the same time.
Those qualities have made him a star of Irish rugby.
Lowe notched his first try for Leinster only 16 minutes into his debut against Benetton, bagging a second score before the end of the game. And he hasn’t let up since, with a record-breaking total of 71 tries in 101 games.
Lowe has just one more game to improve that record, with the left wing set to bow out of Irish rugby in the URC Grand Final against the Bulls at Croke Park on Friday 19 June.
Leinster fans will surely turn out in force to will their team towards a trophy, but also to bid Lowe farewell. If he is picked, it would be no shock for the 33-year-old to sign off with a potent performance. He is a big-game player.
His exit from Irish rugby has created a whirlwind of emotions, but the one most people are mentioning is sadness. As Lowe himself has said, “not everyone gets their fairytale ending.” His was supposed to come at the 2027 World Cup with Ireland.
As recently as March, Ireland boss Andy Farrell underlined that he saw Lowe in his plans for that tournament and stated his expectation that contract negotiations would result in Lowe staying in Irish rugby.
We have simply come to expect that these deals involving active Irish internationals will get sorted.
The fact that Farrell was willing to so openly state his feelings on Lowe’s future is one indicator that there was a consensus at that stage that a contract extension would be sorted.
It’s understood that Lowe was under this impression, even if his contract was a Leinster provincial deal rather than an IRFU national contract, although the union provided a PONI [player of national interest] top-up to Lowe’s deal in recent years.
While the IRFU has distanced itself from the negotiation process with Lowe, the union and its performance director, David Humphreys, would obviously have intimate knowledge about every such conversation with a player like Lowe.
Despite the initially positive noises, it’s understood that Lowe was eventually informed there would not be a contract extension for him. He is said to have been shocked at this.
However, Lowe was subsequently offered a new one-year contract to cover next season and the World Cup, but on significantly reduced terms.
It’s thought that the IRFU’s contribution via a PONI top-up was much lower than in the past, meaning that virtually all of the contract would come from Leinster’s provincial budget.
Leinster have had limited access to Lowe in recent seasons due to IRFU player management restrictions and injuries.
If he starts the URC final, as expected, it will be Lowe’s 10th Leinster appearance of the campaign. Last season, he played for Leinster 11 times. The season before, it was nine games. In the 2022/23 season, which led into the last World Cup, Lowe made seven appearances for Leinster, having been injured in the first half of that campaign.
This relative lack of availability has been of concern to Leinster. Given that there is another World Cup ahead next year and with the IRFU deciding against making a hefty contribution, Leinster seemingly did not believe that a bigger offer was the best use of their resources.
This comes at a time when Leinster are facing the new reality of having to contribute 40% to each IRFU national contract for their players. That measure kicks in this August, with the union redirecting that money into the player development pathways in Connacht, Ulster and Munster.
All of this basically means that Lowe was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
With the IRFU willing to contribute so little to the one-year Leinster extension offer for Lowe, the union was never going to cover his entire contract if he moved to one of the other provinces. It is not thought that such a switch was explored.
Happily settled in Ireland with his wife and two young children, Lowe would ideally have continued to do what he has been doing.
He was arguably the best player on the pitch for Ireland against Italy in February as he returned to the starting XV after missing out on involvement in the disappointing Six Nations opener away to France.
Lowe retained his place in the number 11 shirt for the visit to Twickenham in Round 3, but injured his groin after just 18 minutes of that stirring win over England. He had to undergo surgery on the injury and was sidelined for nearly three months. The timing couldn’t have been worse.
Tommy O’Brien (28), usually a right wing for Leinster, replaced Lowe on the left wing against England to impressive effect and then had a strong outing in the number 11 jersey against Scotland as Ireland sealed the Triple Crown.
Ulster man Robert Baloucoune (28) was a big success story for Ireland in the Six Nations, coming in on the right wing and providing immediate game-breaking impact with his speed, power, and game sense. He looks like a key man moving forward.
Mack Hansen (28) has had a difficult time with a recurring foot injury, but he will come firmly back into the mix next season and is likely to become a pivotal player again. The incumbent on the right wing before his injuries, the Connacht man can also play on the left wing or at fullback.
Ulster’s Jacob Stockdale (30) started two games on the left wing for Ireland in this year’s championship, Calvin Nash (28) featured on the right wing under Farrell in the 2024 Six Nations success, while the versatile Jimmy O’Brien (29) has come back into strong form for Leinster, and Jamie Osborne (24) can play on the wing, as well as at fullback.
Shayne Bolton (25), Zac Ward (27), and JJ Kenny (22) are among the next wave of players hoping to force their way into Farrell’s plans ahead of the World Cup.
Still, the vast majority of these players have not yet to come close to hitting the heights Lowe has. His power in contact, finishing skills, offloading, and intuitive connection with Jamison Gibson-Park have been weapons for the Irish attack.
Lowe’s left-footed kicking is very powerful, but he also has a good understanding of the strategy behind that aspect of the game, while his defensive work improved notably after a tough start in that area when he first played Test rugby.
Lowe is also a confrontational character who enjoys mixing it with opponents and never backs down from a challenge. Every team needs players who get stuck in.
So Lowe has a lot going for him, even if he is now a veteran. He will turn 34 in July, and that is relatively old for an international wing. Leinster and the IRFU have a more in-depth understanding of Lowe’s condition and possible longevity than anyone else.
That said, Ireland’s much-lauded management of its players means that many of them are able to continue performing at the highest level for longer than previously expected.
Lowe would have backed himself to put this season’s injury travails behind him and continue to perform in big games for Leinster and Ireland, including at the 2027 World Cup.
But it’s understood that the offer eventually put in front of him was well below what he saw as his market value, and that the process of how it unfolded also left Lowe very disappointed.
As such, he assessed his options elsewhere. He attracted interest from England and France, with Toulon apparently particularly keen, but it’s believed that a two-year deal with Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath in Japan was especially strong.
Springboks wing Cheslin Kolbe has just left Suntory after three seasons with the Japan Rugby League One side, who are captained by ex-All Blacks skipper Sam Cane.
Lowe confirmed his departure from Irish rugby in an emotional statement on Instagram on Tuesday. They were classy words from a player who has been a genuine star of Irish rugby.
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Exit Farewell? IRFU James Lowe Leinster sayonara