THERE WERE FEW smiles as big as Mike Lowry’s at the Aviva Stadium yesterday.
The Ulster man scored two tries on his Ireland debut against Italy, showing off some of the skills that have made him such a standout player for his province.
Eoin Toolan has been lauding Lowry’s ability for some time now on The42 Rugby Weekly Extra - an analysis podcast available to members of The42 every Monday - and was pleased to see the 23-year-old taking his chance at fullback.
“Lowry showed flashes of why we’ve been so excited about him for some time,” said Eoin. “His first try is a carbon copy of the try he scored for Ulster against Clermont where he drifted outside Morgan Parra to score.
“That’s exactly his game. You just want him to get one-on-ones because defenders really struggle to defend both his speed but also his footwork.
“The evolution of his game which we didn’t see, which is understandable in his first Test match, is going to the ball a little bit more. When the ball is going to him, he always looks like he’s going to make something happen. I think he needs to have the confidence and assertiveness to be able to step up at first receiver.
“When Italy are throwing those shooters out of the defensive line trying to spook Ireland out of going wide, if you have a Lowry at first receiver who can isolate defenders and take on the line from that 10 position, I think that creates real headaches for defences.
“You’d like to see him having that influence from first receiver just by virtue of the fact that he’s so gifted. It was a confidence-boosting debut for him and hopefully we’ll see more of him in an Irish jersey.”
Eoin picked out a few other standout Irish performers from the 57-6 win over 13-man Italy.
“I thought we saw more of Jamison Gibson-Park’s trademark game, trying to threaten in around the edges,” said Eoin. “It was a lovely cut-out pass for James Lowe in the lead-up to Gibson-Park’s own try.
“That connection between Gibson-Park and Lowe is very evident on the field. Lowe is always showing up for him around the edges and they have a great understanding of each other’s games.
“It was probably the turning point for Ireland in the second half when there was a quick-tap from Gibson-Park for Lowe’s first try. He just notices that Ireland need tempo in the game, goes quick, and it ends up with a Lowe try.
“He looked back to himself, a little more assured. His first box kick of the game was really accurate, allowed his wingers to contest. That was an area of the game in France where he really struggled in, so I thought it was good to see him returning to a bit of confidence.
“I thought Caelan Doris was big defensively. He had a really good jackal at one stage, a massive hit on Monty Ioane in the second half. His work-rate in defence is excellent, he’s a real defensive leader for Ireland.
“It was good to see Lowe back as well. He got tested under the high ball, had a couple of marks and quick taps with his booming left foot where he cut off 50 or 55 metres for his team, so those areas of his game looked in rude health.”
Today’s episode of The42 Rugby Weekly Extra also involved Eoin and Murray Kinsella breaking down the rest of Ireland’s win and discussing the law that saw Italy reduced to 13 players.
The lads analysed England’s win over Wales ahead of Ireland’s try to Twickenham next time out, as well as talking about France’s impressive victory over Scotland as they march on towards a Grand Slam.
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