LOWE TO BEHOLD
New Blues ace James making big impression on team-mates and supporters
AS the Christmas period fast approaches, Leinster will register their new attacking toy for European action by noon today.
James Lowe wasted no time making his mark following his move from Super Rugby’s Chiefs, turning on the style with a two-try Blues debut last Saturday at Treviso to become an instant fans’ favourite.
With back-to-back Champions Cup meetings against Exeter next up – Leinster make the trip to Sandy Park first on Sunday – the arrival of the 24-year-old winger is very timely indeed.
Only a few weeks ago, head coach Leo Cullen was describing his back three options as a “protected species” because of injuries.
Now, however, Cullen has seven viable options for those three positions, including Lowe and Ireland’s newest cap Adam Byrne.
That’s before considering club captain Isa Nacewa, Rob Kearney, Dave Kearney, Fergus Mcfadden and new sensation Jordan Larmour. “It’s a selection headache for once,” grinned backs coach Girvan Dempsey. “Thankfully we’ve got nearly a full deck. It’s brilliant.
“That’s the reality, there’s going to be some guys who are going to be disappointed.
“With the squad we have, the rotation we have, it’s horses for courses sometimes in terms of guys for different games and we may look at that as a similar option again.”
But it would be a surprise if Lowe doesn’t get the nod after a man of the match display as Leinster look to stretch their winning steak in their pool to three from three.
“He has settled in really well,” said Dempsey (right).
“He’s one of the guys who’s straight into the dressing room, singing a song after his first cap. He’s very relaxed. You saw what he showed at the weekend, his strength on the ball, his skill level.
“He’s obviously been coached by Dave Rennie for years. A lot of Dave’s ideas and philosophies have rubbed off on him.
“And he’s mad keen. He doesn’t want to be pigeon-holed, he wants to be involved in the game. He wants to get his hands on the ball.”
Scrum-half Luke Mcgrath provided the assist for Lowe’s first try for his new club and the gesture was reciprocated when the Kiwi sent Mcgrath clear for his score in the second half. “I barely made it, I was running o n quicksand for the last few metres – he was alongside me, I think he was walking,” laughed Mcgrath, who blamed his lack of acceleration on a hamstring cramp.
“He’s a quality player. He loves playing the game and he’s going to give it his all the whole time.
“You can see when he catches the ball, he just thinks about running it back, playing an attacking style and that’s why he’s going to fit in so well here.
“He’s brought a massive enthusiasm to the squad, with his energy. He never stops talking on the pitch but you can see what he can do. He’s brought a freshness to the squad, new ideas in the backline, counterattacking and things like that, we can only improve from it.”
And Jack Conan, Leinster’s No8, added: “He’s got some X Factor to him, he’s a big man who can shift and he had some great finishing on the weekend.
“If he gets the nod this weekend it will be great to see what he can do on the bigger stage.”