FROM SPENDING THE early part of the season patiently waiting for his opportunity on the bench with Ulster to being nominated for European Player of the Year and then scoring a double in his Ireland debut, it’s been a meteoric rise for Mike Lowry.
Ask anyone who charted his progress with RBAI as a schoolboy and they’ll say they’re not surprised, but it’s still been a rapid ascent from back-up fly-half to nailed-on provincial starter and now Ireland international full-back for the 23-year-old.
Lowry’s now one of the stand-out players in Europe, let alone Ireland, and but for the continued brilliance of Hugo Keenan in a green jersey he would surely have more than one cap to his name. Indeed, it was notable how much of a threat Ulster’s back line lost when he was shifted to fly-half against Munster last month.
And yet with that kind of rise comes the additional pressure. The intense media scrutiny to go with the terrace talk. The requirement to keep turning in those quality performances week in, week out. The need to catch the eye of not just Dan McFarland but also Andy Farrell.
Still Lowry smiles, though. He’s always cut a genial figure and, even with all those external factors he has to deal with that he perhaps hasn’t in the past, the key in his opinion is to treat the game as, well, just that, and who could argue with the results?
“I’m just really enjoying it at the minute,” he grins.
“I don’t really look into (the pressure) too much, I try to stay off social media as much as I can or listen to what’s going on in the outside world. If I can control the controllables and do what I can do, then hopefully it comes across well and I play well then.
“We can read all the positive comments, but if you read a negative comment then that will be the one that gets stuck in your head. If you have a bad game, you’ll want to look at social media, but I try and stay away from that. Trying to stay grounded and working hard.
“I’m one that competes against myself rather than others. I remember seeing something saying if you compete against yourself, you’ll get better, but if you compete against others, you’ll get bitter. I liked that. It allows me to improve a lot more than worrying about what others are doing.”
Ulster will need him to be his best in a game where, when the equation is so simple for the province, there’s no room for error. Defeat the Cell C Sharks tonight and they will be back at Kingspan Stadium in two weeks’ time for their United Rugby Championship quarter-final. Lose and they will face a testing road trip.
While pulling out a big performance on their travels has rarely bothered them this season – think Leinster, Clermont and Toulouse – there is nothing like having home comforts and a vociferous local crowd backing you all the way.
They’ll also be aware that losing likely means a cross-hemisphere jump to face one of the DHL Stormers, Vodacom Bulls or perhaps even the Sharks again in the last-eight. The travel alone makes that a wholly uncomfortable prospect before you even consider the calibre of sides they could potentially play.
“It pretty much is a last-16 round in terms of getting ourselves into a quarter-final spot and we have to deal with it as a really important game,” says Lowry.
“It could be the difference for us travelling away to South Africa or staying at home in front of a home crowd, and we all know how tough South Africa is to go away to.
“It pretty much could define the season and if we win this game it could build a little bit of momentum going into the knockout stages.”
There is also a degree of Ulster needing to prove themselves. They haven’t won at Kingspan Stadium since March 12, with their last two outings on home soil being defeats to Toulouse and Munster, and Lowry believes they need just a little bit of good fortune and sharper execution to turn those around.
“I suppose Toulouse are such a good side and we made a couple of mistakes that let them into it, I don’t feel we were outplayed or anything. There were a couple of mistakes that let them into the game and they have stars that can finish off anything,” he insists.
“They weren’t necessarily the better side and I think that’s what we need to remember, that we’ve been the better side in the majority of our games. If we can take that into this game and then secure ourselves a home quarter-final we know what we can do and what we are capable of.
“We just need to focus on ourselves now.”
ULSTER
(15-9) Mike Lowry; Robert Baloucoune, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Ethan McIlroy; Billy Burns, John Cooney: (1-8) Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Tom O’Toole; Alan O’Connor, Iain Henderson (captain); Marcus Rea, Nick Timoney, Duane Vermeulen.
Replacements: John Andrew, Eric O’Sullivan, Gareth Milasinovich, Kieran Treadwell, Matty Rea, Nathan Doak, Stewart Moore, Rob Lyttle.
CELL C SHARKS
(15-9) Aphelele Fassi; Werner Kok, Lukhanyo Am, Marius Louw, Makazole Mapimpi; Curwin Bosch, Jaden Hendrikse; (1-8) Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Thomas du Toit (captain); Ruben van Heerden, Reniel Hugo; Siya Kolisi, Henco Venter, Phepsi Buthelezi.
Replacements: Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Khuta Mchunu, Hyron Andrews, Jeandre Labuschagne, Sithumbuzo Notshe, Grant Williams, Boeta Chamberlain.
Referee: Ben Blain (Scotland)
