ON THE MONDAY before Ireland’s Six Nations defeat of France, the squad spent an afternoon listening to guest speakers including Brian O’Driscoll, Craig Doyle, historian Paul Rouse and former Ulster and Ireland player David Irwin talk about Ireland during the Troubles, and the significance of Ireland’s Call.
For James Lowe, who first moved to this part of the world from New Zealand in the summer of 2017, it was an eye-opening experience.
“Pardon my ignorance, I didn’t know too much about it, I’m not going to lie,” Lowe explains.
“Even a lot of the boys in the room didn’t really understand what people had to go through to be able to play for Ireland during The Troubles. So highly influential (to listen to), I think, and in the changing room we had an old jersey from one of the first Test matches ever played by Ireland, so that was pretty special.
“It motivates you, and obviously there were three of the boys playing their 50th as well, so it was very, very emotional. It was cool. I took a lot from it.”
That in-camp history lesson laid the foundation for what became a special week, Ireland channeling that emotion into a thrilling 32-19 defeat of France as they picked up a second straight bonus-point Six Nations win.
Lowe was a key figure across the defeats of Wales and France, scoring a try in each game.
“Well, I don’t think one of them was a try,” he says, referencing his first-half score against Les Bleus, where the winger supplied a stunning acrobatic finish in the corner under pressure from Damian Penaud. Replays suggested his left foot was in touch but Lowe says his own doubts centered around the grounding of the ball.
“Don’t worry about the foot! The ball was out, man! I didn’t know at the time that my foot was out.
I actually knew as soon as I put it down, I was thinking, ‘ah damn, this is out, don’t worry about the foot’. Sure look, at home you get the rub of the green sometimes. Away from home I don’t think it was going to be a try so you take it when you can.
“I thought I put the ball down on the line but obviously, like the curvature (of the ball)… I saw it from a bird’s eye view and I thought, ‘Ah!’”
Luckily for Lowe, the call went his way and Ireland powered to a famous win.
This weekend they head to Rome looking to keep their Grand Slam ambitions on track, with captain Johnny Sexton a doubt as he recovers from a groin injury suffered in the France game.
Lowe has previously spoken about how standards in training have dipped when the out-half isn’t around, but feels any Sexton-shaped hole is less of a concern now.
“The standards are always very, very high but Sexto holds himself and everyone else around him to such a high standard; that’s through time in the saddle, that’s through playing over 100 test matches for Ireland, he’s done it before, he knows what works, he knows throughout the week that if we haven’t got our stuff right, it’s probably a reflection of how we train.
“The standards are still very high (when he’s not there), don’t get me wrong, and you could put any team in front of us at the moment and I feel like it’s up to us whether or not we perform.
He still travels with us, he’s still in the environment, he’s still speaking in meetings, he’s still pointing out things. Just because he’s physically not playing or training doesn’t mean he doesn’t have an influence.
Other leaders are continuing to push themselves forward, too. Garry Ringrose has become an increasingly influential figure and players like James Ryan and Caelan Doris are also delivering moments of leadership on the pitch.
“When you look at the age profile of some of the boys who have played 30 odd tests, people who have been around the environment for a long time and are still only 24 or 25 years old…. You know like Doris, James Ryan, Hugo (Keenan) even, boys like that,” Lowe continues.
“Obviously Garry, Robbie (Henshaw), those boys play a huge part in filling the hole when Sexto is not there and they’ve got such a huge influence in how they perform and how they conduct themselves in the environment.
“Even when Sexto is not there, there are a lot of boys who can pick up the slack and I guess in terms of us on the field, we all know that… If you’re playing against Ireland, follow Sexto around, we’re able to step up around him knowing that he takes a lot of the tension off other areas of the pitch that he’s not in. If we can get on the front foot and not get Johnny getting whacked as much, it works hand in hand.”
Even without Sexton, Ireland will be fully expected to build on their strong start to the campaign with another win against Italy.
“I think the team is playing very, very well at the moment,” Lowe adds.
“A lot of boys are getting across their work early on in the week, not to say that they weren’t. Everyone has got a proper understanding of their roles and responsibilities in the week and Saturday is when we get to express it.
“Things are going well, we need to hold onto momentum and we know performances is the main thing at the end of the day and we don’t think we’ve put in a complete 80 yet.”
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