TAKING STOCK

Winger expects duel with Lowe

JACOB STOCKDALE is ready to welcome James Lowe into the Ireland set-up but is not in the mood to give up his place easily.

Kiwi winger Lowe (inset) has been hugely impressive for Leinster since joining from the Chiefs in 2017 and Andy Farrell is expected to include him in his squad when he becomes eligible to represent Ireland in early November.

Stockdale’s left-wing berth will come under pressure from the 27-year-old, not least because the Ulsterman has had a number of below-par performances in the green jersey of late.

That downturn has been a far cry from the form he showed in scoring a record seven tries in Ireland’s 2018 Grand Slam triumph.

But he is ready to knuckle down in a bid to stay in the starting line-up.

“Ireland have benefited from Irishqualified players with Bundee Aki and CJ Stander, they’ve only strengthened the team,” Stockdale said.

“They bring extra competition and realistically to be competitive you want the coach to have a headache every time he has to pick the team.

“That back three position with myself, Keith Earls, Andrew Conway,

Jordan Larmour, there are some seriously talented players in there and it’s already a very competitive area.

“To make it even more competitive I think it is only a good thing because it forces everyone to push each other along. I’m excited about the prospect of James playing for Ireland and I’m planning on keeping my position. I’m very confident that I can play better.”

Stockdale, 23, has watched every game he has played for Ulster and Ireland during the coronavirus lockdown.

“It’s probably a bit sad to admit that but it’s something that I wanted to do just to see how I’d played,” he told the BBC.

“It was really nice to look back at the games and realise the learning points that I’ve made over the course of my career so far.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever score seven tries in a Six Nations again but looking back I’m very confident that I can play better.

“If you look back at that 2018 series my defence was, I would say, nowhere near the level it is now.

“There are definite things that I’ve been improving on in the last two years that whenever it comes to playing in the Six Nations again, I’ll be able to perform to a higher level and that’s what it’s all about.”